President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday ruled out holding any bilateral talks with the United States and threatened to further cut Iran's commitments to a nuclear deal within days. In an address to parliament, Rouhani said any dialogue with the US would have to fall within the framework of the group of major powers that agreed a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran in 2015.

Rouhani also said Iran was ready to further reduce its commitments to the accord "in the coming days" if current negotiations with European nations yield no results by Thursday. Tehran and Washington have been at loggerheads since May last year when US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal and began reimposing crippling sanctions. The arch-foes were on the cusp of confrontation in June when Iran downed a US drone and Trump ordered retaliatory strikes before cancelling them at the last minute. France has been leading efforts to calm the situation, with President Emmanuel Macron expressing hope during G7 talks in late August of organising a meeting between Rouhani and Trump.