Iran Quds Force commander: Negotiations impossible while under sanctions

Commander of the Iranian Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, said today that US President Donald Trump’s economic sanctions would not pressure the clerical establishment to negotiate.

By putting economic pressure on Iran, America wants to force us to enter talks with this country … any negotiation under the circumstances is surrendering to America and it will never happen

Soleimani was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.

In November 2018, the US re-imposed economic sanctions on Iran after Trump announced in May that he would withdraw the US from the 2015 nuclear deal.

The sanctions seek to target Iran’s economy by restricting international trade with the Islamic Republic.

“The conditions set by Trump’s administration are not credible and amount to a demand for unconditional surrender,” Dr Hadi Enayat, political sociologist and author of “Law, State and Society in Modern Iran”, told MEMO.

READ: Kuwait looks at Iran’s threats to block Strait of Hormuz ‘with concern’

“The US are broadly trying to do two things: Firstly, put pressure on the IRGC to disengage from Syria and thus weaken Assad. Secondly to force Iran back to the negotiating table over the nuclear deal.”

The nuclear deal, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was an agreement signed by Iran and the P5+1 powers – the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany. Donald Trump said that he would renegotiate a “new and lasting deal” soon after he announced the US withdrawal.

Iran’s Quds Force, of which Soleimani is commander, has been accused of funding and training Hezbollah, Iraqi Shia militias and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.