Iranian president snubs Trump offer of talks until US lifts sanctions

Cool US-Iran relations show little sign of warming as Tehran stands defiant over economic penalties

Iran will not talk to the United States until all sanctions imposed on Tehran are lifted, President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday, a day after President Donald Trump said he would meet his Iranian counterpart to try to end a nuclear standoff.

Mr Trump said on Monday he would meet Iran's president under the right circumstances to end a confrontation over Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with six powers and that talks were underway to see how countries could open credit lines to keep Iran's economy afloat.

Mr Rouhani said Iran was always ready to hold talks "but first the U.S. should act by lifting all illegal, unjust and unfair sanctions imposed on Iran."

"Without the U.S.'s withdrawal from sanctions, we will not witness any positive development," Mr Rouhani said in a televised speech on Tuesday, adding that Washington "holds the key" as to what happens next.

"If someone intends to make it as just a photo op with Rouhani, that is not possible," he said.

Earlier on Monday, Mr Rouhani expressed readiness to negotiate a way out of the crisis following America's pullout from the nuclear deal.

"If I knew that going to a meeting and visiting a person would help my country's development and resolve the problems of the people, I would not miss it," he had said.

"Even if the odds of success are not 90% but are 20% or 10%, we must move ahead with it. We should not miss opportunities."

Mr Rouhani's U-turn can be seen as a result of pressure from hard-liners in the Iranian establishment who oppose taking a softer tone towards the West.

Speaking at a G7 summit in the French resort of Biarritz, Mr Trump ruled out lifting economic sanctions to compensate for losses suffered by Iran.

European parties to the deal have struggled to calm the deepening confrontation between Iran and the United States since Mr Trump pulled Washington out of the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed sanctions on the Iranian economy.

Iran has scaled back its commitments under the pact in retaliation to US sanctions.

Mr Trump and Mr Rouhani are both due to attend the United Nations General Assembly in September.