Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday that he doesn’t think the U.S. will go to war with Iran because President Trump knows that it would “ruin” his reelection chances.
“I think the Americans aren’t after war since they know what harm it could do them,” Rouhani said during a televised press conference, The Associated Press reported.
The Iranian president also maintained that Tehran will not negotiate under Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign or until the U.S. rejoins the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, Reuters noted. But he said Iran will get “the enemy” to the “negotiating table some day.”
“Iran will never negotiate under pressure. … We will never yield to America’s pressure and we will not negotiate from a position of weakness,” Rouhani said, according to Reuters.
“Securing peace and stability in the sensitive region of Middle East and in the Persian Gulf is impossible without Iran’s help,” he added.
The two countries came close to conflict after Tehran retaliated for the U.S. attack that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani with a rocket strike on Iraqi bases holding American troops. Dozens of U.S. service members suffered traumatic brain injuries in the Iranian attack.
Iran and the U.S. have had tense relations since Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear agreement and reinstalled sanctions on the country.
Iran will hold parliamentary elections Friday, and Rouhani encouraged Iranians to show up as an act of defiance against the U.S.