Hassan Rouhani, the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran says the United States must lift all sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic in order to facilitate negotiations between the two countries.

Rouhani’s comments at the foreign ministry on Tuesday were a backtrack from Tehran’s long-held position that the US needs to return to the nuclear deal (JCPOA) before any negotiations can occur. This time, he emphasized on lifting the sanctions and said: “Now whether they want to return to the JCPOA or not is not our concern at this moment.”

“If you want to create a path to negotiation, you must repent. Our nation is kind and forgiving, but only if you truly repent,” Rouhani added.

President Trump and members of his administration have regularly called for direct negotiations with Iran without any preconditions, but the Islamic Republic has refused to negotiate despite heavy US sanctions.

Most recently, the Islamic Republic’s minister of foreign affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, was invited to the White House to meet with him, but the Islamic Republic rejected the offer. Last week, the US Treasury Department added Zarif’s name to the list of sanctions.

Foreign policy decisions such as negotiations with the United States are in the hand of the leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, who is a strong opponent of negotiation with the United States.

Rouhani continued: “They said we are willing to negotiate without any preconditions, then a few days later they sanctioned the supreme leader. We don’t want to negotiate with you. You don’t deserve negotiation, but hypothetically, even if we were ready to negotiate, who should make the final decision? You know our laws and you are aware that without his decision and consent we cannot move forward in such a big decision.”

Tensions have risen between the Islamic Republic and the United States after several sabotage attacks against oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

Seizure of several foreign tankers by the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the Strait of Hormuz has only escalated the tensions.