Replacing US officials won't change Iran's perception: Iran’s top security official

Iran's top security official says rearranging the US officials would not change Iran's understanding of the nature of Washington's policies.

"The historic and deep-rooted hostility of the US government towards the Iranian nation is something beyond the roles that officials play," Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said on Wednesday, adding that "the dismissal and installation of the US officials and their presence in different positions would not change Iran's understanding of the nature of the US measures and policies, as both [Barack] Obama and [Donald] Trump... pursued a similar policy of sanctions against the Iranian nation."

Shamkhani further reiterated that the main criterion of Iran's evaluation is the policy and function of the US government, especially in terms of commitment to the international obligations and removal of sanctions against Iran.

"The enemies of the Iranian nation should not forget that the unprecedented expansion of the Islamic Republic's regional power and the downing of the US's modern drone in the Persian Gulf exactly occurred during the period that [former US National Security Adviser John] Bolton was constantly threatening Iran. This clearly shows that Iran's strategic policies are not affected by the hostile approaches of figures like Bolton," he said.

Shamkhani's comments came a day after US President Donald Trump announced the firing of Bolton in a tweet, saying he had “disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions,” presumably meaning the hawkish politician’s advocacy for regime change in Venezuela, North Korea and Iran.

PressTV-Trump won’t rule out easing Iran sanctions

US President Donald Trump has refused to rule out easing of illegal sanctions on Iran amid tensions between Washington and Tehran.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Trump and Bolton entered into a heated discussion on the possibility of easing sanctions on Iran on Monday.

Meanwhile, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said that the US should distance itself from "warmongers."

"Americans have to realize that warmongering and warmongers are not to their benefit," Rouhani said on Wednesday. "They should not only abandon warmongering but also abandon their maximum pressure policy."

PressTV-'B-Team promoted 9/11, now leads econ. terror on Iran'

FM Zarif says the United States, under B-Team's direction, imposes sanctions on other nations over terrorism charges while it stands guilty of supporting the 9/11 attacks and deadly wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The so-called policy of "maximum pressure" on Iran began after Trump abandoned an international accord signed in 2015 between Iran and the world powers, under which Tehran accepted curbs on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

Having failed in his hawkish Iran policy, Trump has been offering talks with senior Iranian officials in recent months, while keeping up the pressure.

Tehran says it will not negotiate under pressure and wants the US to lift its sanctions and begin respecting the Iranian nation’s rights before seeking any dialog.

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