In a contrasting stand against Iran, United States President Donald Trump has said that the US remains open to negotiate a comprehensive deal with Iran that blocks its nuclear-weapons programme.
The development comes in just two days before the American sanctions on energy and shipping sectors start from Monday. The statement is completely opposite to the American hawkish policy against Iran in recent times.
In a statement released on Friday, Trump said that "Our objective is to force the regime into a clear choice''. He further went on to add that "Either abandons its destructive behaviour or continue down the path toward economic disaster."
He condemned the Iranian government of ill practices of developing a nuclear weapon and said that the penalties were aimed at the Tehran government, "not at the long-suffering Iranian people."
He also said that "we reiterate today that the sale of food, medicine, medical devices, and agricultural commodities to Iran has long been, and remains, exempt from the sanctions."
The Iranian nuclear deal was one of the issues which Trump was raising during his Presidential campaign and had promised to scrap the deal he called "heavily in favour of Iran."
The US administration's decision to back out of the 2015 nuclear agreement drew sharp reactions from Iran as well as the other countries that negotiated the deal. The other countries led by EU argued that it's the best chance to constrain the Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions. But the White House went ahead with canceling the nuclear deal and threatened the countries of economic sanctions if they continue to maintain economic ties with Iran.
Trump has followed an aggressive policy to deal with Iran ever since he has assumed office. The strategy is to punish Iran so severely that the county is forced to deliberate a permanent closure to its nuclear ambitions as well as what the US calls its "malign behavior" in the Middle East.
"The United States remains open to reaching a new, more comprehensive deal with Iran that forever blocks its path to a nuclear weapon, addresses the entire range of its malign actions, and is worthy of the Iranian people," the White House added.
