Iran denies starting nuclear talks with US

Tehran, Nov 20
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has rejected a recent claim by US President Donald Trump that Tehran and Washington were holding nuclear talks.

He made the remarks in an address to reporters in Tehran on Wednesday (local time), one day after US President Donald Trump said the United States was talking to Iran and that Tehran wanted "very badly" to make a deal.

In a Tuesday meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House, Trump said, "We're talking to them, and we start a process. But it would be a nice thing to have a deal with Iran."

Baghaei stressed, "No negotiation process currently exists between Iran and the United States."

He pointed to the US track record of failing to honour its promises and putting forward "excessive demands," reiterating that there was no logical justification for holding talks with a side that did not see negotiation as a two-way process, took pride in its "wrongful action of military aggression" against Iran and the Iranian people, reports Xinhua news agency.

Regarding a message from Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Saudi crown prince prior to his US visit, Baghaei said it was purely bilateral. The message expressed Iran's gratitude for the services provided to Iranian pilgrims during last year's Hajj and emphasised the need for continued coordination for this year's pilgrimage.

Iran and the United States previously held five rounds of indirect, Omani-mediated talks on Tehran's nuclear program and US sanctions between April and June. A sixth round, scheduled for June 15, was cancelled following Israeli airstrikes on multiple Iranian nuclear and military sites, which killed senior commanders, nuclear scientists, and civilians. On June 22, US forces joined the attack by bombing three Iranian nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan.