In an interview with Reuters, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif shared his sense that President Trump was not seeking conflict with Iran, "but that doesn't exclude him being basically lured into one". He also suggested that "those who have designed the policies that are being pursued do not simply want a negotiated solution... Iran is not seeking confrontation, but will not escape defending itself". Commenting on the U.S. designation of the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), Zarif remarked that "we will exercise prudence but it doesn't mean that if the U.S. changed the rules of the game, or changed the rules of engagement, it would be able to get away with that". He also insisted that "there are always ways of going around the sanctions. We have a PhD in that area".