Iran not to tolerate threats from US: Negotiator

A senior Iranian negotiator on Monday said Iran's nuclear team will never allow the opposite side to use the language of threat in the course of negotiations over Tehran's nuclear programme.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi made these remarks after Iranian lawmakers announced a bill that, if passed, would require a halt to nuclear negotiations between Tehran and the P5+1 group of world powers until the US stops its threatening rhetoric against Iran, Press TV reported.

The bill, with a triple-urgency status, would oblige the government to halt nuclear talks with the six countries until Washington apologised to Tehran and put an end to threats against Iran, according to Javad Karimi Qoddusi, a member of the national security and foreign policy committee of the Iranian Majlis.

The Iranian nuclear team has never allowed any talk of threat to emerge during the course of nuclear talks and the opposite side has not used the language of threat in the negotiations to date, Araqchi said.

The move by Iranian legislators followed Washington's fresh threats of military action against Iran amid the ongoing talks over Tehran's nuclear programme.

US Secretary of State John Kerry as well as Vice President Joe Biden have recently said that the military option is still on the table regarding Iran.

On May 6, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei described as "unacceptable" the use of threats concurrent with the nuclear negotiations and said that Washington's need for the nuclear talks was not less than Tehran's, if not more.

The Leader also cautioned the Iranian negotiators to observe the country's red lines in the course of the talks.

The US threats come as Iran and the P5+1 group of countries -- the US, China, Russia, France, Britain plus Germany -- are seeking to finalise a comprehensive deal on Tehran's nuclear programme by the end of June. The two sides reached a mutual understanding in Lausanne, Switzerland, on April 2.