TEHRAN — Government spokesman Ali Rabiei has dismissed speculation that President Hassan Rouhani is considering resigning as president.

Rabiei made the remarks during a press conference on Monday, Tasnim reported.

Such an idea has been by no means raised in the administration, he said.

Asked about Rouhani’s upcoming visit to Japan, Rabiei said the trip has nothing to do with the United States’ push for talks with Iran.

He explained that Iran’s “Japanese friends” sometimes put forward proposals, but reiterated that the Islamic Republic has no plan in this regard.

Last week, the Iranian president’s chief of staff, Mahmoud Vaezi, dismissed speculation that Rouhani might discuss a message from the U.S. government in his upcoming trip to Japan.

“The trip will be made within the framework of bilateral visits and meetings between the officials of Tehran and Tokyo,” he added.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced last Monday that Tokyo is in discussions about a possible Japan visit by President Rouhani later this month, an attempt to try to resolve Iran’s nuclear impasse with the United States.

According to Financial Post, Abe also said Japan wants to make every possible effort to promote Middle East peace.

Abe was in Iran on a two-day visit on June 12.

During a meeting with Abe on June 13, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed Trump as a person not worthy of exchanging messages. The Leader said Iran has “no trust” in the U.S. and will not at all “repeat the bitter experience” it gained from the negotiations that led to the conclusion of the 2015 nuclear deal, which Washington later ditched.

“Iran engaged in talks with the U.S. and the Europeans for some five or six years, and achieved a result. The Americans, however, breached a done deal,” said the Leader, emphasizing that “no wise man” would enter talks with a country that has reneged on all agreements.

During a joint press conference with Rouhani on June 12, Abe said he will use his country’s “utmost effort” to deescalate tension in the Persian Gulf and the wider Middle East region.

“Japan will use its utmost effort to reduce tension in the region,” he said.

MH/PA