Rouhani Says Rejected Trump’s Offer to Give Iran ‘Four Ventilators’

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says he declined former US President Donald Trump’s offer to provide Iran with “four ventilators” in early months of the coronavirus outbreak, and offered instead to export Iranian ventilators to the US.

In comments on Thursday, President Rouhani described such an offer as an indication of American officials’ insufficient knowledge about the Iranian nation.

“At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Trump had told one of the officials of other countries that ‘we are ready to help Iran regarding the coronavirus issue, and can give Iran four ventilators’,” Rouhani said.

“I answered, ‘we are prepared to export ventilators to America as much as they need’,” the Iranian president said.

Rouhani said such comments by US officials indicate the Americans don’t know the Iranian nation.

He also pointed to the new US administration’s failure to return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, and said, “Iran’s Supreme Leader has clearly announced we would immediately return to the JCPOA if the US does so and lifts the sanctions, but what has unfolded so far indicates the new US administration is pursuing the same tack of the previous administration.”

Emad Askarieh

Emad Askarieh has worked as a journalist since 2002. The main focus of his work is foreign policy and world diplomacy. He started his career at Iran Front Page Media Group, and is currently serving as the World Editor and the Vice-President for Executive Affairs at the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website.