No Request From Tehran for Negotiation With US

EghtesadOnline: The Foreign Ministry dismissed claims by some foreign media that Iran is seeking to open dialogue with the United States and is currently negotiating with Saudi Arabia, a US ally in the region, through Baghdad.

News ID: ۷۴۷۱۶۸

28 April 2019

"There has been no request for negotiation with the US and with regard to Saudi Arabia, there are no talks on any subject between the two countries, except for issues related to Hajj [the annual Muslim pilgrimage] that have been agreed to be kept away from political relations," Abbas Mousavi, the Foreign Ministry's spokesman, said on Saturday, ISNA reported.

Washington initiated a "maximum pressure campaign" against Iran after quitting the 2015 nuclear deal last year and has been gradually intensifying restrictions.

Foreign media have claimed that Iran is seeking negotiation with the US for lifting sanctions, while Tehran says the initiation of talks depends on the removal of American pressure, according to Financial Tribune.

“Negotiation is only possible if all the pressures are removed, they apologize for their illegal actions and there is mutual respect,” President Hassan Rouhani said in a Wednesday Cabinet meeting, adding that Washington is "not ready to negotiate".

Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif also told reporters recently that Iran favors dialogue, but the onus is on the US to return to the negotiating table.

"We never left the negotiating table. We are holding meetings with the remaining members of the nuclear deal. It is the United States which decided to leave the negotiating table," he said on Wednesday in New York, before attending a UN General Assembly meeting to commemorate the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace.