US lying about talks offer, alleges Hassan Rouhani
Our leaders are not like other countries’ leaders who have billions in an account abroad so you can sanction it, seize it or block it.\"
Tehran: Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that new US sanctions against senior Iranian officials including top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif showed Washington is ‘lying’ about an offer to negotiate. “At the same time as you call for negotiations you seek to sanction the foreign minister? It’s obvious that you're lying,” Rouhani said in a meeting with ministers broadcast live on TV.
His comments came after US National Security Advisor John Bolton said Washington had ‘held the door open to real negotiations’ but that ‘in response, Iran’s silence has been deafening.’
Rouhani also questioned the logic of blacklisting supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said it showed that Washington is ‘confused.’ “The leader’s assets are a Hosseiniye (Shiite place of worship) and a simple house. Our leaders are not like other countries’ leaders who have billions in an account abroad so you can sanction it, seize it or block it."