Parisa Hafezi, John Irish

DUBAI/PARIS – Iran’s foreign minister stated Monday that Iran was open to talks with the United States if it believes it can negotiate a favorable deal, with guaranteed results.

Two months ago, Iran and the United States resumed indirect negotiations on revitalizing the 2015 nuclear accord.

Although diplomats in Western countries have said they hope to see a breakthrough within the next week, sharp divisions remain. The deadlines imposed on Iran by the West have been rejected.

Iran is refusing to meet directly with U.S. officials. This means that other countries – Britain China France Germany Russia and France – will need to shuttle between them.

Reports that Iran and America are directly in negotiations with each other are false, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirbadollahian said at a Tehran news conference. However, direct talks will be considered if there is a need to reach an agreement with solid guarantees.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last year banned Iranian officials from holding talks with Washington.

According to a source from the West, Iran’s diplomatic team brought up direct negotiations during their recent visit to Tehran.

Sources said that Khamenei’s approval was not yet given, however negotiators believed direct contact would facilitate negotiations.

“We haven’t heard any such information. Robert Malley, United States ambassador to Iran told Reuters that he was open to the idea.

On Monday, Iran ruled out all U.S. conditions for the reactivation of the 2015 nuclear agreement. This includes the release American prisoner held by Iran.

Malley indicated that the U.S. is unlikely to reach an agreement unless Iran releases four U.S. citizens Washington believes it has held hostage.

Iran has not accepted preconditions. “The U.S. official made comments about Iran’s release of U.S. prisoner in Iran. This is domestic use,” Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Monday.

Since April, Iran has been meeting with international powers to reopen the agreement. The deal was abandoned by the United States in 2018 and sanctions were reimposed on Tehran. This led to Iran gradually violating the limits of its nuclear program.

But after eight rounds of talks, the thorniest points remain the speed and scope of lifting sanctions on Tehran, including Iran’s demand for a U.S. guarantee of no further punitive steps, and how and when to restore curbs on Iran’s atomic work.