Iran and the United States reaffirmed their commitments to diplomacy at a contentious meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday, but the gap between the Trump administration and the Islamic Republic on a nuclear deal remains wide and deep.

The sixth round of negotiations between Washington and Tehran had been scheduled for soon after Israel's 12-day war with Iran in June, during which the US joined Israel in bombing Iranian nuclear sites. The talks were cancelled, and in September, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rejected any direct nuclear negotiations with the United States.