A senior member of the Iranian parliament said on Monday that US President Donald Trump had sent a message to Tehran via Saudi Crown Prince listing three conditions for any resumption of talks.
His remarks appeared to confirm reporting on the message by Iran International on Friday citing sources familiar with the matter.
“The United States and Trump through Bin Salman have set three conditions for continuing negotiations and reaching an agreement with Iran, none of which are logical,” Mojtaba Zolnouri (Zonnouri) said in an interview with state media.
The United States has long insisted that Iran must completely halt its uranium enrichment program, stop supporting its armed allies in the Middle East and accept restrictions on its ballistic missile program.
Tehran rejects the conditions as a non-starter for any talks.
“These are preliminaries for our destruction, and it is obvious we will not accept them. Whenever they enter negotiations in the true sense-give and take-and prove they are acting in good faith, we have no problem,” said Zolnouri, a former deputy parliament speaker and current national security and foreign policy committee.
“If they clip our wings in the region, they will dominate us much sooner. You stop supporting Israel, then Israel will collapse on its own, and we won’t need to support any movement called the Resistance,” he added.
“What logic is there in telling us to shut down our missile program or limit the range to only 300 kilometers (186 miles)”?
In a speech on Thursday, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei dismissed reports that Tehran had sought Riyadh’s help to facilitate talks with Washington last week, saying outreach to Trump would be beneath Iran’s dignity.
‘US must regain Iran's trust’
Meanwhile Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi that the United States bears responsibility for restoring Iran’s confidence in diplomatic processes.
“It is the United States that must regain Iran’s trust in diplomacy,” Araghchi cited as saying to Motegi on Monday, according to statement from Iran’s foreign ministry.
Japan’s foreign ministry said Motegi urged early resumption of US-Iran negotiations and immediate full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The United States held five rounds of negotiations with Iran over its disputed nuclear program earlier this year, for which Trump set a 60-day deadline.
When no agreement was reached by the 61st day on June 13, Israel launched a surprise military offensive, followed by US strikes on June 22 targeting key nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow.