Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that he turned down around 23 requests for talks after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.
Addressing a meeting of Iranian officials, he said that over the past two years and three months he received 23 requests to meet US officials.
"We did not hesitate to negotiate, but we are not looking for a show," he added, reported IRNA.
Lifting the sanctions is not a precondition but a reality, the president said, adding that they are putting pressure on the Iranian people, not just the government, describing the sanctions as “economic terrorism.”
Rouhani revealed that he received eight requests while attending the UN General Assembly meetings in September 2017. The requests only increased in 2018.
Separately, spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry Abbas Mousavi said the US will fail in extending the arms embargo against Iran.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is leading a US drive to persuade the UN Security Council to extend the embargo due to expire in mid-October under the terms of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal from which the United States withdrew in 2018.
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