Iran: Conditions not ripe for US talks

Iran will not sit for talks with the US over the existing issues as the conditions are not ripe, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday.

"I'm not ruling out the prospect of talks (with Washington) provided the necessary conditions for talks, and that is reliability," Zarif was quoted as saying by Press TV.

"Reliability is that when you sign something you are bound by it. Otherwise, everything will fall apart," he said, adding that "we are waiting for some sense of realism".

Iranian authorities have stressed that Tehran will not sit for negotiations under Washington's threats and sanction pressures.

Following US President Donald Trump's decision to quit the historic Iranian nuclear pact, Washington vowed to reimpose sanctions lifted under the accord against Tehran and inflict punishments like secondary sanctions on nations having business links with Iran.

Washington's withdrawal from the landmark Iran nuclear deal was criticized across the world. Some of its major European allies have been working to prevent the 2015 deal from falling apart.

The Trump administration, according to reports, has called for renegotiation of the Iranian 2015 nuclear deal as well as Tehran's developing missile programme. However, Iran has ruled out possibility of talks over defence plans.

--IANS

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