Iranian President rules out possibility of negotiations with US

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has ruled out the possibility of negotiations with the United States under current circumstances of heightened diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

"I favour talks and diplomacy but under current conditions, I do not accept it, as today's situation is not suitable for talks and our choice is resistance only," IRNA quoted Rouhani as saying.

Rouhani added that Iranian authorities feel the support of ordinary people, who do not buy the idea that their country is responsible for the spike in tensions, despite attempts by "the enemy" to portray it as such, reports Russia Today.

Recently, the country officially halted some of the commitments under the landmark 2015 nuclear deal signed with world powers. The development implied that Iran no longer had any limit for the production of enriched uranium.

Speaking on the same, Rouhani admitted that the reason Iran was reluctant to further walk away completely from the said deal was that it would lead to more economic sanctions on the country.

"If we walked away from the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) with the US provocative acts, then, in addition to the US, the UN and world would also impose sanctions on us," he said

The Iranian President had recently admitted that the country was facing "unprecedented pressure" from the international political sanctions, as a result of which the country could be under worse economic conditions during the 190-88 war with Iraq.

Concerns about the possible conflict between the two countries have flared ever since Washington ordered carrier strike warships and B-52 bombers off the coast of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to counter an alleged and unexplained threat from Iran.

In a separate development, Iran's Director of Foreign Affairs for the country's parliament, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has called Trump a "crazy President", whose threats against Tehran were not going to work.

"In his mind, Trump thinks he has a gun to Iran's head with sanctions and he is trying to shut down our economy," Amir-Abdollahian told CNN in an interview. "This is all in his imagination. Now he wants us to call him? This is a crazy president!"

"Within the White House there is a lot of conflicting opinions," Amir-Abdollahian continued, "Also, Trump is not quite balanced and stable in his decision making, so we are dealing with a confused White House. Iran receives various signals which show that no one knows who owns the White House."

The statement has come against the backdrop of Trump's tweet on Monday, where he denied the reports that the US was trying to set up a negotiation with Iran.

"Fake News put out a typically false statement, without any knowledge that the United States was trying to set up a negotiation with Iran. This is a false report," Trump tweeted on Monday. "Iran will call us if and when they are ever ready. In the meantime, their economy continues to collapse - very sad for the Iranian people.