Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian expressed doubts about the sincerity of the United States in its desire for talks with Tehran after Washington imposed new sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
"If the US really wanted talks, then why did they sanction us?" - Pezeshkian said during the celebration of the 46th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
His statement comes a week after US President Donald Trump resumed the policy of "maximum pressure" against Iran, which includes economic restrictions and diplomatic measures. Pezeshkian stressed that the real threat to stability in the Middle East is not Iran, but Israel.
The Iranian authorities are ready to negotiate with the United States, but not under President Donald Trump's strategy of "maximum pressure".
This was stated by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi last week, quoted by AFP.
According to him, "the lifting of sanctions requires negotiations, but not within the framework of a policy of "maximum pressure", because this would not be negotiations, but a form of surrender.".
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said earlier that experience had proven that negotiations with the United States "are not smart, wise or honorable," the official IRNA news agency reported.