- The Media Line - https://themedialine.org -

Rouhani Talks of Nuclear Referendum, Iraqi FM Offers to Mediate Calm

Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hakim, hosting his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, offered to help ease tensions between Iran and the United States during a joint news conference with Zarif in Baghdad on Sunday. Tensions have spiked since the US withdrew from a multilateral deal struck in 2015 with Tehran that would ease sanctions in return for an end to an Iranian nuclear drive. The US reimposed its sanctions, and in recent weeks, the two sides have traded tough talk, including the prospects of war. In Iran, meanwhile, President Hassan Rouhani spoke about the possibility of letting Iranian citizens decide on whether to pull out of the deal altogether and have the country revert to its former path of nuclear development. According to the official Iranian news agency IRNA, Rouhani floated the idea during a meeting with senior Iranian journalists on Saturday evening.