Kuala Lumpur: The United States must observe a landmark nuclear deal and halt "economic terrorism" against Iran if it wants to hold talks, the Islamic republic's foreign minister said Thursday. Tehran and Washington have been locked in a bitter standoff since last year when US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the 2015 deal that gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its atomic programme.

Trump said Monday he was ready to meet Iran's President Hassan Rouhani within weeks, in a potential breakthrough reached during a G7 summit in the French seaside resort of Biarritz. But Rouhani has said Washington must first lift sanctions imposed since its withdrawal from the nuclear deal, and Foreign Minister i9ijjjjMohammad Javad Zarif reiterated that message.