Tehran rules out any talks with the United States until sanctions on the Islamic republic are lifted and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gives green light to such contacts, Iranian Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi said on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th July, 2019) Tehran rules out any talks with the United States until sanctions on the Islamic republic are lifted and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gives green light to such contacts, Iranian Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi said on Thursday."If the United States lifts sanctions on Iran, then we can consider the issue of holding negotiations with them," Alavi said, as quoted by the IRNA news agency.
He added that negotiations between the two countries were only possible if the supreme leader issued relevant permission.
Tensions between the United States and Iran have been on the rise since last year when Washington pulled out of the landmark multilateral nuclear deal and started unveiling the "toughest ever" sanctions on the Islamic republic.
On May 8, exactly a year after the United States unilaterally left the accord, Tehran informed the remaining parties to the nuclear deal France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Russia and the European Union about its decision to abandon some parts of it and gave Europe 60 days to ensure Iran's interests under the agreement. If this request is not met, Tehran has said it would be ready to take further measures scrap the accord.
Earlier in the week, Tehran announced that, starting from July 7, it would begin enriching uranium beyond the 3.67 percent level, outlined in the nuclear deal, and stop the process of repurposing its nuclear reactor in Arak.
Despite the fact that the United States was close to approving militarily action against Tehran after a US drone was shot down by the Iranian military, President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that he is open to talks with the country's leadership without any preconditions.
