Iran ruled out any possibility of a meeting between President Hassan Rouhani and President Trump at the United Nations General Assembly next week as tensions between the two countries further escalate.
“Neither is such a plan on our agenda nor will such a thing happen,” Seyed Abbas Mousavi, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference, according to a Fars, a state-run outlet.
“This meeting will not be held,” he said.
Iran’s comments follow an attack on two major oil facilities in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. The Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are backed by Iran, claimed responsibility for the attacks. The Trump administration has blamed Tehran for the strikes.
Trump said last week he could meet with Rouhani and that he had no problem with such a meeting, but walked back those remarks on Sunday, saying in a tweet that reports he was willing to meet with Iran without conditions were “incorrect.” Trump also said the U.S. is “locked and loaded,” though the did not name Iran in his tweet.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused Iran of being responsible for the strikes, calling it “an unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply.”
Relations between the U.S. and Iran have hit a boiling point amid the Trump administration increasing sanctions on Iran after withdrawing from a nuclear agreement.
