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Talks with US can be reviewed only if Trump lifts sanctions: Iran minister

Talks with US can be reviewed only if Trump lifts sanctions: Iran minister

Trump-Rouhani

Iran's intelligence minister said Tehran and Washington could hold talks only if the United States ended its sanctions and Iran's top authority allowed the talks between the arch-foes, state news agency IRNA reported on Thursday.

"Holding talks with America can be reviewed by Iran only If US President Donald Trump lifts the sanctions and our supreme leaders give permission to hold such talks," said Mahmoud Alavi on late Wednesday.

"Americans were scared of Iran's military power, that is the reason behind their decision to abort the decision to attack Iran."

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Trump had said last month that he aborted a military strike to retaliate for Iran’s downing of an unmanned US drone on June 20 because it could have killed 150 people, and signalled he was open to talks with Tehran.

President Donald Trump warned Iran on Wednesday against making threats that can "come back to bite you like nobody has been bitten before," after Tehran announced it would breach a 2015 nuclear deal.

President Hassan Rouhani announced that after July 7 Iran would enrich uranium beyond a fissile purity of 3.67%, which is the maximum allowed by the deal and a level which is deemed suitable for electricity generation.

It is the second time this week that Tehran has announced a measure that undermines the nuclear accord, which has been in trouble since Trump pulled the United States out of it last year.

"Our level of enrichment will no longer be 3.67. We will put this commitment aside by whatever amount we feel like, by whatever amount is our necessity, our need. We will take this above 3.67," said Rouhani, according to IRIB news agency.

Enrichment to 90 per cent yields nuclear bomb-grade material.

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