TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Friday the United States had offered to lift all sanctions against Tehran in exchange for talks, while US President Donald Trump denied that, saying he had rejected Iran's offer to lift sanctions in exchange for a meeting.
The official website of the Iranian president made the statement when Rouhani returned from meetings of the UN General Assembly in New York to Tehran.
He said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron were in New York and all insisted on holding the meeting, and the United States said it would "lift sanctions".
"The sanctions to be lifted will be discussed, and they have clearly said that they will lift all sanctions," Rouhani was quoted as saying.
"This step has not been carried out in an acceptable manner, which means that in the climate of sanctions, the continuation of the sanctions and the poisonous atmosphere of the policy of extreme pressure, even if we want to negotiate with the Americans within the framework of five plus one, the final outcome of these negotiations cannot be predicted," he said.
For his part, the US president said he rejected Tehran's request for lifting sanctions in exchange for talks, and Trump tweeted on Twitter, saying: "Iran wanted to lift the sanctions imposed for the meeting and said: Of course not."