Speaking in a 60-minute interview with CBS News, the Iranian President explained Iran's stances toward sanction removal talks and revival of the 2015 nuclear deal.
"If it's a good deal and fair deal, we would be serious about reaching an agreement. It needs to be lasting. There need to be guaranteed. If there were a guarantee, then the Americans could not withdraw from the deal," Raeisi said, referring to reaching a new agreement in Vienna talks.
Referring to Trump's unilateral withdrawal of JCPOA, President said, "You see, the Americans broke their promises. They did it unilaterally. They said that "I am out of the deal." Now making promises is becoming meaningless."
Answering a question about trusting the Americans, he underlined, "We cannot trust the Americans because of the behavior that we have already seen from them. That is why if there is no guarantee, there is no trust."
"The sanctions are very tyrannical. This is tyranny against the people of Iran. It is important to us to have the sanctions lifted," the Iranian President said, referring to sanctions imposed on Tehran by Trump's administration.
"Yes, they can create restrictions and problems for us and difficulties. But there are a number of countries that are being sanctioned. By doing this, they are bringing them closer together, making them more united. And this will render American sanctions ineffective," Raeisi stressed.
He also spoke about Iran's peaceful nuclear program saying that the country will use the program in the fields like medicine, agriculture, oil, and gas.
"We have responded to these claims several times. They are baseless. The Islamic Republic of Iran has said many times that possessing nuclear weapons has no place in our doctrine," he said, reacting to the West's claims that Tehran is after nuclear weapons.
"There are Iranian nationals also imprisoned inside the US. These people are only in there because they simply tried to circumvent sanctions. And the Americans, we have told them that we can talk to them about this. It can be conducted separately from the nuclear talks. It can be done between the two countries. It is a humanitarian issue. This can be negotiated," he said answering a question about 4 American citizens being detained in the country.
Asked about the possibility of holding a meeting with Biden during his trip to New York, he said, "No. I don't think that such a meeting would happen. I don't believe having a meeting or a talk with him will be beneficial."
"What the then American government did, by the direct order of Trump himself, to assassinate General Qassem Soleimani, this was a heinous crime. We want justice to be served. We are not going to forget about this," Raeisi said when asked about Tehran's retaliation over the US assassination of General Qassem Soleimani.
RHM/PR