ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday said that there is no possibility of direct talks with the US over the nuclear issue for as long as the US applies their maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.

“There will be no possibility of direct talks between us and the United States on the nuclear issue as long as the maximum pressure is applied in this way,” Araghchi said in a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov following the Russian foreign minister’s visit to Tehran on Tuesday.

“Regarding the nuclear negotiations, the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran is very clear. We will not negotiate under pressure, threat, or sanctions,” Araghchi added.

Araghchi’s remarks come less than three weeks after Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged his government not to negotiate with the US. 

Khamenei said that “it is unwise, it is not intelligent, it is not honorable to negotiate” with the US, adding that “no problem will be solved by negotiating with America.”

Araghchi said “we will move forward with the cooperation and coordination of our friends in Russia and China” on the nuclear issue, adding that he had briefed Lavrov on the latest discussions around the subject.

Iran on Monday held a new round of talks with Germany, France, and the UK around its nuclear program after hinting ahead at the discussions in the prior months. 

US President Donald Trump earlier this month signed a memorandum restoring his “maximum pressure” policy against Iran, which entails a series of strenuous sanctions on Tehran, while also detailing a set of new economic measures against the country.

In 2015, world powers agreed to ease international sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on Tehran’s nuclear program, a deal that came to be known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The United States under Trump’s first-term administration, unilaterally withdrew from the landmark deal three years later, reimposing economic sanctions on Tehran, causing massive financial damage to the country’s economy.

Iran insists that their efforts are of peaceful nature. The US however, has remained cautious of Tehran’s nuclear program, suspecting that their nuclear project strives toward the development of nuclear weapons.