There will be no talks with US as long as it keeps mistreating Iran

Iran’s top security body says the Islamic Republic will not hold any talks with the US as long as Washington sticks to its hostile approach in dealing with the Iranian nation.

The Supreme National Security Council (SNSC)’s spokesman Keivan Khosravi said on Thursday that Tehran will not engage in any negotiations with this US “as long as there is no change in such behavior, the country’s rights are not respected” and practical measures are not taken instead of mere rhetoric.

“There will be no negotiations at all,” he emphasized.

Khosravi said that there has been an increase in the number of visits to Tehran by officials from different countries, mostly on behalf of the United States, adding that some of the trips are made public while others remain confidential.

After pulling his country out of an international nuclear deal with Iran last May, US President Donald Trump has on several occasions offered talks with Tehran.

The latest such offer came last week amid heightened tensions between the two sides.

Trump walked back what he has been trumpeting as “Iran’s threat” to the region and the US interests, saying he was willing to engage in talks with the Islamic Republic “if they are ready.”

Citing such alleged and unspecified threats, the US has been heavily building up its presence in the Middle East, prompting offers of mediation between the two sides to ease the Washington-initiated tensions.

Citing an unnamed source, Al Jazeera reported in mid-May that Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani had earlier traveled to Iran on a visit meant to “defuse escalating tensions” between Iran and the US.

Earlier this week, Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi paid a surprise visit to Tehran, during which he discussed regional developments with Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif.

On Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said his country planned to send delegations to the US and Iran to help “halt tension” between the two sides.

Earlier today, a German diplomatic source told Reuters that Jens Ploetner, a political director in the German Foreign Ministry, was in Tehran on Thursday for meetings with Iranian officials to try to preserve the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and cool tensions in the region.