Iranian Official Sees No Chance for Talks with US

The spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Tehran has been quoted by Fars, Iran’s semi-official news agency, as saying: “We currently see no prospect of negotiations with America.” Abbas Mousavi was reacting to a recent statement by US President Donald Trump that it was still possible to renegotiate a nuclear deal with Iran. “Iran pays no attention to words,” Mousavi reportedly said. “What matters to us is a change of approach and behavior.” Last year, Trump pulled out of a multilateral nuclear deal reached with Iran in 2015 designed to prevent it from building nuclear weapons. With the withdrawal, the US president reinstated crippling economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic, most notably by forcing other countries to forego the purchase of Iranian oil. Tensions have escalated in recent weeks with attacks against US allies in the Gulf and the transfer of a US aircraft carrier and strategic bombers to the region.