U.S. President Donald Trump waited on the phone for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani who refused to join the call, the New York Times reported Monday.The call was to take place last week on a secure line set up by French President Emmanuel Macron who was on hand to wait for the Iranian leader who refused to leave his meeting and talk to the American president.
He was also mindful of the repercussions of such a call from hardliners in Tehran.
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Rouhani was in New York for the UN General Assembly.
Addressing world leaders, Rouhani’s message pointed a clear way toward easing tensions and resuming negotiations: “Stop the sanctions.”
Rouhani accused the U.S. of engaging in “merciless economic terrorism” against his country, saying America had resorted to “international piracy by misusing the international banking system” to pressure Iran.
The British Guardian newspaper reported Tuesday quoting sources, that at no time did the Iranian president express a willingness to have a telephone conversation with Trump.
Macron has been trying to arrange direct discussions between the Iranian and U.S. presidents in the hopes of avoiding further escalation of tensions between the two countries after the United States pulled out of the 2015 nuclear agreement and increased sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Trump denied the account on a twitter post claiming it was Iran who was asking to talk.
Tensions have been rising in the Persian Gulf since an attack on the Saudi oil instillations which the United States attributed to Iran
