Iran: Time for Meeting US Officials Has not Come Yet
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Amid suggestions that Iranian and US presidents may meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and shake hands, Iran’s foreign ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday that the time for direct negotiations with the US has not come yet.
“The meeting per se is not what we are after, and Iran has always held meetings to fulfill its frameworks, and we believe that the time for such meetings with American officials has not come yet,” Marziyeh Afkham announced in her weekly press conference here in Tehran on Tuesday.
Asked about whether Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will meet his US counterpart Barack Obama on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Afkham stressed that such meeting "is not on the agenda" of the Iranian president’s visit to the UN headquarters.
“These are merely speculations raised by some media outlets,” the foreign ministry spokeswoman added.
Earlier on September 19, President Rouhani announced that he had no plan to meet his US counterpart during his UN trip, but added that everything was possible in the world of politics.
“Meeting Obama is not on the agenda of my trip, but everything is possible in the world of politics depending on the conditions that emerge,” he said at the time.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is in New York to take part in the 68th session of the UN General Assembly and meet many high-ranking officials from other countries.
