Iran Press/Iran news: For making Iran-US talks possible, "the first thing the US should do is to go back to the negotiating table", Majid Takht-Ravanchi told Fareed Zakaria's GPS aired by CNN on Sunday night.
"They left the negotiating table while the other members of the international community were talking to Iran about the nuclear issue. All of a sudden, the US decided to withdraw and the whole problem, the whole mess that we are seeing around ourselves is geared to that decision," the Iranian envoy added.
Takht-Ravanchi also ruled out the possibility of talks as long as the US keeps threatening Iran. "Talks and threats are mutually exclusive. We cannot start a dialogue with somebody while he/she is trying to intimidate and frighten you, is trying to impose sanctions on you. Coercion and intimidation do not go well with dialogue."
The Iranian envoy made the remarks in reaction to the US administration's repeated calls for "unconditional" talks with Tehran. The offer of talks, however, has been made at the same time as the US increases its pressures against Iran, threatening the country on a daily basis, Press TV reported.
In his CNN interview, Takht-Ravanchi also pointed to the negative impact of the US pressures on the Iranian people, but stressed that the country is still capable of sustaining the pressure.
"We have already faced difficult situation during the Iran-Iraq war - the eight-year war imposed by Iraq on Iran; we managed to survive and we did, and I'm sure that we can. It is true the economic sanctions are putting pressure on the Iranian people, that is a fact. But that does not mean that we can succumb to pressure," he noted.
Takht-Ravanchi further referred to Europe's efforts to save the Iran nuclear deal, and said they must hurry up and fulfill their commitments before Iran's July 8 deadline; otherwise Tehran will implement the "second phase" of scaling down its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
In his Sunday comments, Takht-Ravanchi said the establishment of the INSTEX mechanism is not sufficient and cannot solve any problem. "They should put money in it."
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