Renews His Hypocritical Aid Offer:

Trump Says Iran Would ‘Own America’ If He Lost

Date: 20 April 2020 - 21:42

News ID: ۷۷۶۷۵

WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would be willing to provide aid to Iran to help deal with the coronavirus pandemic if Tehran requested it.
"If Iran needed aid on this, I would be willing,” Trump said at a White House briefing Sunday.
He made the offer as he urged Iranian officials to "be smart and make a deal” with the U.S.
Trump backed out of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal and immediately issued sanctions against the nation. Iran has refused to negotiate with the U.S. until the sanctions are lifted.
But Trump said Iran might be waiting to see if presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden will become president in the 2020 election because "they’d own America”
"You wouldn’t have a country left if he got in,” the U.S. president said in his typical presumptuous tone.
Iran has rejected the offer as hypocritical while the U.S. is refusing to lift the sanctions and even intensifying them.
On Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif chided Trump over his alleged willingness to send ventilators to Iran to help treat coronavirus patients.
"Iran will be EXPORTING ventilators in a few months, @realdonaldtrump,” Zarif tweeted. "All you need to do is stop interfering in the affairs of other nations; mine especially. And believe me, we do not take advice from ANY American politician,” he added.
While Trump has dangled his purported offer of help, he has made it a point that the Islamic Republic should directly ask for it. Iran has said the unconventional demand shows the U.S, seeks "nothing short of surrender”.
In an interview with Bloomberg published Sunday, Iran’s Central Bank Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati touched on Washington’s hostile measures which have complicated Tehran’s international trade.
U.S. sanctions and its decision to put the Iranian Central Bank on its list of "specially designated nationals and blocked persons” last September prevent Iran from accessing its own money, which would be "more than enough” to cover its needs, he said.
"Central Bank reserves are under U.S. sanctions overseas, which is illegal and unilateral, and I want to be clear about this. What we are saying is that the sanctions should be lifted altogether, however, sadly, there are actors in the U.S. government that have little regards for international law and order,” Hemmati added.
He said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should approve Tehran’s request for a loan without delay and to resist U.S. pressure amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
Last month, the Islamic Republic asked the IMF for $5 billion in loans to help finance its efforts to combat the disease. IMF officials have said the fund is  proceeding with Iran’s request, but the U.S. has pledged to block the application.
Hemmati touched on the loss of lives to the coronavirus in Iran, appealing directly to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva to approve the request.
"We have lost so many lives, as the Americans and Europeans have lost, and my thoughts and prayers go with them,” Hemmati said in an interview with Bloomberg. "The time to act is now,” he added.