The world of politics has had a lot of ups and downs and is always changing, Rouhani said at a meeting with the new ambassador of South Korea to Tehran on Tuesday.
“Certainly, the decisions of the new US administration are fleeting” he said, apparently referring to Trump’s statement on Monday that he was willing to meet “any time” with Iran’s leaders without preconditions, a sharp departure from his threats against the Islamic Republic last week.
Rouhani added that the bilateral relations between Iran and South Korea, however, are “historical and deep-rooted”.
“We should not allow political events and the illegal sanctions (against Iran) harm the historical relations between the two countries,” he stressed.
During the meeting, the South Korean envoy submitted his credentials to Rouhani and said the two countries have always had good and cordial ties.
Rouhani’s remarks came after Trump said he is willing to meet with Iran's leadership, without preconditions, "whenever they want."
"I would certainly meet with Iran if they wanted to meet," Trump said during a joint news conference at the White House alongside Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Monday.
"I do believe that they will probably end up wanting to meet. I'm ready to meet whenever they want to,” he added.
"No preconditions," he added. "They want to meet, I'll meet, whenever they want."
On May 8, the US president pulled his country out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was achieved in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
Following the US exit, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.