President Trump on Sunday said he has “no intention” of meeting with Iranian officials when world leaders gather at the United Nations this week.
”Nothing is ever off the table, completely, but I have no intention of meeting with Iran and that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for stops in Texas and Ohio. “I’m a very flexible person, but we have no intention. It’s not set up.”
He said his administration has about 15 meetings arranged “but Iran is not one of them.”
There had been some speculation that Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani would meet at the UN in an effort to tamp down tensions between US and Iran after an attack on Saudi oil facilities earlier this month.
The US and Saudi Arabia blame Iran for carrying out the attacks, but Tehran denies those accusations.
Iran said Houthi rebels they are backing in Yemen in their fight against Saudi-backed coalition forces are responsible.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif continued to deny the accusations.
“I’m confident that Iran did not play a role. I’m confident that anybody who does – who conducts an impartial investigation will reach that conclusion,” Zarif told CBS’ “Face the Nation” in an interview that aired Sunday.
But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the weapons used in the strikes on a Saudi refinery and oil field were more sophisticated that anything the Houthis had previously used.
”I mean it is literally nuts on its face to make an assertion that this was an attack by the Houthis. This was Iran true and true, and the United States will respond in a way that reflects that act of war by this Iranian revolutionary regime,” Pompeo said on CBS.
While he said the Trump administration was seeking a diplomatic solution to the standoff, “we’re prepared to do the things we need to do to try to deter Iran from this kind of behavior.”
Tensions between the two countries have been on edge since Trump last year pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and reimposed sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
The US has accused Iran of harassing shipping in the Persian Gulf and of shooting down an unmanned US surveillance drone in June.