8 Wednesday August 7, 2019
WORLD
Transgender traditionalists
Transgender woman Tista Das (right), 38, and transgender
man Dipan Chakraborty, 40, perform the rituals of a traditional
Hindu marriage ceremony in Kolkata, India on Monday.
The transgender couple, who have both undergone sex
reassignment surgery, tied the knot in Kolkata during a
traditional ceremony attended by friends and family. Photo: AFPTehran favors talks with
Washington: Rouhani
President Hassan Rouhani said
on Tuesday that Iran favors
talks with the US if it lifts sanc-
tions against the Islamic repub-
lic, despite his top diplomat
turning down a meeting with
US President Donald Trump.
Rouhani said that “peace
with Iran is the mother of all
peace” and “war with Iran is
the mother of all wars” as he
defended a landmark 2015
nuclear deal, which is formal-
ly known as the Joint Com-
prehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA).
“The Islamic Republic of
Iran favors talks and negotia-
tions and, if the US really wants
to talk, before anything else it
should lift all sanctions,” Rou-
hani said in remarks aired live
on state television.
Rouhani, speaking at the
foreign ministry after meeting
with his top diplomat, Moham-
mad Javad Zarif, said Iran was
ready for talks regardless of
whether or not the US was par-
ty to the landmark nuclear deal.
“Whether they want to come
into the JCPOA or not, it’s up to
them,” said Rouhani,.
“All sanctions should be
lifted so that there will be no
criminals facing us,” he said,
accusing the US of committing
acts of “economic terrorism”
for blocking imports of food
and medicine.
“So if it wants talks, it must
prepare the path for it. The path
to it is repent. There is no other
way.”
Tensions between Iran and
the US have been rising since
Trump unilaterally withdrew
the US from the nuclear deal in
May 2018 and began imposing
sanctions on it as part of a cam-
paign of “maximum pressure.”
Twelve months on, Iran hit
back by suspending some of its
commitments under the deal.
The situation threatened to
spiral out of control with ships
attacked, drones downed and
oil tankers seized.At the height of the crisis,
US President Donald Trump
called off airstrikes against Iran
at the last minute in June after
the Islamic republic’s forces
shot down a US drone
Rouhani said in any talks the
Americans should be ready to
negotiate fairly.
“If you want security, if your
soldiers want security in the re-
gion, [then agree to] security for
security,” he said. “You cannot
harm our security and then ex-
pect your own security.
“Peace for peace and oil for
oil,” he added. “You cannot say
that you won’t allow our oil to
be exported.
“Strait for strait. It cannot
be that the Strait of Hormuz to
be free for you and the Strait of
Gibraltar not to be free for us.”AFP Dialog possible if US lifts all sanctions
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