TEHRAN (Mehr News) — US President Donald Trump had requested a meeting with President Rouhani “eight times” on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September, according to Rouhani’s chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi.

“During Rouhani’s last visit to New York for the UN General Assembly session, Trump asked the Iranian delegation eight times to have a meeting with the president”, Mahmoud Vaezi told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Back in October, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi confirmed speculations on Trump’s request for a meeting with Rouhani on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, but added that the request was rebuffed by the Iranian president. “We have a transparent policy and clear position with regard to our relations with the US”, Vaezi added.

Meanwhile, Iran’s First Vice President Eshagh Jahangiri has described countries attempting to eliminate Iran’s presence on the scene of the global oil trade as being guilty of “treachery,” as the United States looks to pile on new sanctions following President Donald Trump’s announcement in May that the U.S. will exit the nuclear deal. “They think Saudi Arabia will easily add a few million barrels of oil to the global market. In this struggle, any country wishing to replace Iran in the oil market, will commit great treachery against the Iranian nation and the international community, and they must know that they will pay heavily for this treason”, Jahangiri said in a meeting dedicated to National Industry and Mine Day held in Tehran on July 1, according to the Iranian Students News Agency.