Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran will not negotiate with the U.S. unless it removes sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic, dashing France's efforts to defuse tensions between the two nations, newswires reported.
Tehran is always willing to talk but Washington "should act by lifting all illegal, unjust and unfair sanctions imposed on Iran," Rouhani said in a speech, according to Reuters. Without lifting sanctions, there would be no "positive development," he noted, the Financial Times said.
The statement comes a day after U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to meet Rouhani "if the circumstances were correct," following French President Emmanuel Macron's offer to mediate between the two countries. However, the U.S. president dismissed the possibility of removing economic sanctions on Iran.
Relations between the two countries have worsened since Washington pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal and reinstated restrictions on Iran. Tehran threatened several times to breach its commitment under the deal in retaliation.
Macron was optimistic about a meeting "within a few weeks" that included discussions on a partial scale-back of U.S. sanctions on Iran and full Iranian commitment to the nuclear deal, The Guardian reported.
