Hassan Rouhani
Hassan RouhaniReuters

Iran would be open to talks with the United States if Washington apologizes for exiting the 2015 nuclear deal and compensates Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

The confrontation between Tehran and Washington has worsened since 2018, when US President Donald Trump withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with major powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.

In a tweet in early June, Trump repeated Washington’s call for a new deal with Tehran aimed at putting stricter limits on Tehran’s nuclear work, curbs its ballistic missile program and ends its decades of regional proxy wars.

“We have no problem with talks with the US, but only if Washington fulfils its obligations under the nuclear deal, apologizes and compensates Tehran for its withdrawal from the 2015 deal,” Rouhani said in a televised speech on Wednesday.

“But we know these calls for talks with Tehran are just words and lies,” he added.

Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 deal in response to Washington’s “maximum pressure” policy. Iran says the process is reversible if the European parties to the pact carry out their promises to shield Iran’s economy from US penalties.

“The Europeans have failed to fulfil their promises. They should carry out their obligations,” Rouhani said on Wednesday.

Rouhani also blasted a resolution by the UN nuclear watchdog passed on Friday that called on Iran to stop denying the agency access to two suspected former sites and to cooperate fully with it.

“Iran is ready to cooperate with the (International Atomic Energy Agency) IAEA under law,” he said.

The resolution passed by the IAEA followed a report earlier this month in which the UN agency expressed "serious concern" that Iran has been blocking inspections at two sites where past nuclear activity may have occurred.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif last week blasted France, Germany and Britain and accused them of serving the United States and Israel by drafting the IAEA resolution.