TEHRAN 3 Sep (ANA) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has ruled out holding any bilateral talks with the United States and threatened to further cut commitments to the country's crumbling nuclear deal with world powers within days.

 

In an address to parliament on Tuesday, Rouhani, however, said that if Washington lifted all sanctions it reimposed on Iran after withdrawing unilaterally from the 2015 deal, then it could join multilateral talks between the remaining signatories to the landmark accord.

 

"Maybe there has been a misunderstanding. We have said it several times and we repeat it - there has been no decision to hold bilateral talks with the US," said Rouhani.

 

"In principle, we do not want bilateral talks with the United States," he added.

 

Tensions between Washington and Tehran have been rising since May last year following US President Donald Trump's controversial decision to pull out of the deal and the subsequent reimposition of crippling sanctions aimed at strangling Iran's economy.

 

Trump, although applying "maximum pressure" on Iran, has offered to meet its leaders and hold bilateral talks with no pre-conditions.

 

The two countries were on the cusp of confrontation in June when Iran downed a US drone and Trump ordered retaliatory attacks before cancelling them at the last minute.(ANA)

FA/ANA/3 September 2019------