White House national security adviser John Bolton said if Iran wants to avoid the reimposition of US sanctions it should take up President Donald Trump's offer to negotiate.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the new US sanctions on Iran were "the most biting sanctions ever imposed".
"In November they ratchet up to yet another level. Anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States. I am asking for WORLD PEACE, nothing less!" he tweeted.
Earlier on Monday, White House national security adviser John Bolton said if Iran wants to avoid the reimposition of US sanctions it should take up President Donald Trump's offer to negotiate.
Asked in an interview on Fox News what the leaders of Iran could do, Bolton said: "They could take up the president's offer to negotiate with them, to give up their ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs fully and really verifiably not under the onerous terms of the Iran nuclear deal, which really are not satisfactory."
"If Iran were really serious they'd come to the table. We'll find out whether they are or not."
Iran had earlier rejected Trump's offer of talks without preconditions as worthless and "a humiliation" after he acted to reimpose sanctions on Tehran following his withdrawal from a landmark nuclear deal.
Separately, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Trump's repudiation of the accord reached in 2015 was "illegal" and Iran would not easily yield to Washington's renewed campaign to strangle Iran's vital oil exports.
In May, Trump pulled the United States out of the multilateral deal concluded before he took office, denouncing it as one-sided in Iran's favour. On Monday, he declared that he would be willing to meet Rouhani without preconditions to discuss how to improve relations.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said Trump's offer to negotiate with Tehran contradicted his actions as Washington has imposed sanctions on Iran and put pressure on other countries to avoid business with the Islamic Republic.
"Sanctions and pressures are the exact opposite of dialogue," Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by Fars news agency on Tuesday.
"How can Trump prove to the Iranian nation that his comments of last night reflect a true intention for negotiation and have not been expressed for populist gains?" he added.
The head of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations said on Tuesday Tehran saw no value in Trump's offer, made only a week after he warned Iran it risked dire consequences few had ever suffered in history if it made threats against Washington.
"Based on our bad experiences in negotiations with America and based on US officials' violation of their commitments, it is natural that we see no value in his proposal," Kamal Kharrazi was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.
“Trump should first make up for his withdrawal from the nuclear deal and show that he respects his predecessors’ commitments and international law,” added Kharrazi, a former foreign minister.
Kharrazi said Trump likes “meeting for the sake of meeting” and was not concerned about its results.
The Strategic Council on Foreign Relations was set up by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to help formulate long-term policies for the Islamic Republic.
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