Trump open to meeting with Iran, open to meeting Rouhani

BIARRITZ, France – U.S. President Donald Trump said it was realistic to think that a meeting with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani could happen in the coming weeks.

“I have a good feeling. They have to be good players, if you understand what I mean. They can’t do what they were saying they were going to do, because if they do that, they will be met with really very violent force. So I think they are going to be good,” Trump told reporters at a news conference at a G7 summit in Biarritz.

“I think he is going to want to meet and get their situation straightened out. They are hurting badly.”

Later, Trump added that he was not open to giving Iran compensation for sanctions on its economy imposed by Washington since Washington pulled out of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

However, he told a news conference at a G7 summit in Biarritz, France, that numerous countries would give Iran a credit line to keep it going.

“No we are not paying, we don’t pay,” Trump said.

“But they may need some money to get them over a very rough patch and if they do need money, and it would be secured by oil, which to me is great security, and they have a lot of oil, but it is secured by oil, so we are really talking about a letter of credit. It would be from numerous countries, numerous countries.”

As the G7 conference drew to a close, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson also touched on Iran in a news conference.

“Iran should never under circumstances be allowed to get a nuclear weapon,” Johnson said.

“There is clearly an opportunity now for Iran to come back into compliance with the nuclear deal… and to resume dialog, as well as to cease its disruptive behavior in the region,” he added.