Page 6 - IRANRptJun19

2.2 Lift your unjust sanctions and the door for talks might open Iran’s Rouhani tells Trump
Little to no change in Iran’s attitude to the prospects for talks with the US over renegotiating the nuclear deal was evident in May 29 remarks made by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
US President Donald Trump, engaged in an attempt at strangling Iran’s economy to force concessions on Tehran's Middle East activities and policy, said while in Japan on May 27: “I really believe that Iran would like to make a deal... and I think that’s a possibility to happen.”
Rouhani, in remarks broadcast by state television, repeated the line he has taken for the past year, indicating that talks with Washington might be possible if the Trump administration lifted sanctions.
“Whenever they lift the unjust sanctions and fulfil their commitments and return to the negotiations table, which they left themselves, the door is not closed,” Rouhani said, adding: “But our people judge you by your actions, not your words.”
Trump also this week said he wanted to obtain a steadfast guarantee that Iran would not pursue the development of a nuclear weapon. But Iranian officials responded by pointing out that under a fatwa issued by the supreme leader of Iran the country is not allowed to develop such a weapon. The nuclear deal, still backed by Iran and five major powers, also prohibits the Iranians from constructing a nuclear bomb and its six remaining signatories and UN atomic inspectors all remain in agreement that Tehran is in compliance with it.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on May 29 that Iran saw no prospect of negotiations with the US.
2.3 Ex-Tehran mayor admits during state TV news segment to shooting wife dead
A former mayor of Tehran has admitted in a state television news broadcast that he shot his wife dead in their apartment.
A bizarre Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) news segment shows the former mayor sat with police chiefs in their office drinking tea, while the reporter handles the gun with which Mohammad Ali Najafi allegedly killed Mitra Ostad, his second wife on May 27. Najafi, who had only a short tenure as mayor last year, is then interviewed by the reporter. During the interview he states that he “only intended to scare” his wife before shooting her in the bathroom five times in the chest. Tehran prosecutor Mohammad Shahriari said on May 28 that Najafi "surrendered to police officers" after going missing and confessed to killing his wife over “family issues,” Tasnim news agency reported.
Najafi will likely be sentenced to death for the killing under Iran's Sharia-based penal code.
It is illegal for regular citizens in Iran to carry a handgun. However, there are reports that Najafi owned a special permit allowing him to keep such a weapon
6 IRAN Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com