Ahead of the UN General Assembly meeting, both US President Donald Trump and top adviser to Iran claimed that they had rejected a 'meeting'' with each other.
DescribingIran PresidentHassan Rouhani asanabsolutely ''lovely man'', Trump said"Despite requests, I have no plans to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.''
Trump tweeted, "Despite requests, I have no plans to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Maybe someday in the future. I am sure he is an absolutely lovely man!"
Meanwhile, atop adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader rejected a US offer for top-level meetings, according to news agency Reuters.
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards also kept up the anti-US rhetoric in the build-upto the UN session, calling President Donald Trump "evil and adventurous" and accusing him of waging economic war on Tehran.
Relations between the two countries worsened after Trump pulled out of an international nuclear deal with Iran in May.
He has since started reinstating economic penalties and pressing other countries to stop buying Iranian oil.
Trump said in July he was ready to meet Iran's President Hassan Rouhani without preconditions to negotiate a new deal.
President Rouhani, seen as a moderate, has stopped short of ruling out meetings between the two countries. But he has come under increasing pressure from hardliners, including the Guards, since Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord.
Trump is set to address the UNGA meeting on Tuesday where he is likely to face foes and increasingly uneasy allies.
He will chair a Security Council meeting on non-proliferation and weapons of mass destruction on Wednesday.
(With inputs from Reuters)