In this photo released by official
website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan
Rouhani addresses the nation in a televised speech in Tehran, Iran,
Monday, Aug. 6, 2018. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani struck a hard
line Monday as the U.S. restored some sanctions that had been lifted
under the 2015 nuclear deal. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)
President Trump on Tuesday called the sanctions against Iran that went into effect at midnight "the most biting sanctions ever imposed,” and warned that countries that do business with Tehran will not do business with the U.S.
Trump signed an executive order on Monday to restore some of the sanctions that were lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal during the Obama administration, targeting transactions that involve U.S. dollars, as well as the country’s automotive sector, the purchase of commercial planes and metals including gold.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani responded Monday, "If someone has knife in the hand and seeks talks, he should first put the knife in his pocket."
Rouhani said he has no pre-conditions for opening talks with the U.S. as long as the Islamic Republic gets paid back for decades of American “intervention in Iran.”
"If the U.S. government is ready to negotiate about paying compensation to the Iranian nation from 1953 until now," Rouhani said. "The U.S owes the Iranian nation for its intervention in Iran."
Rouhani appears to be referencing the CIA-backed mission to overthrow Iran’s elected prime minister to secure the shah’s rule in 1953, a similar sentiment touted by many of his predecessors.
A senior administration official told Fox News these restored sanctions are designed to constrict the revenue Iran uses to fund “terrorists, dictators, proxy militias, and the regime’s own cronies.”
Additional sanctions will resume on Nov. 4, targeting Iran's oil industry and banking sector.
Rouhani also said the country can rely on China and Russia to supplement its oil and banking sectors amid the U.S. imposed sanctions.
Trump, who has repeatedly vowed to withdraw the U.S. from a nuclear deal that he called “a horrible, one-sided deal that should have never ever been made,” has said he is open to negotiating with Iran.
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