Iran will consider "serious" engagement with Europeans on addressing regional issues only if they do the same, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said.
"As we have repeatedly said, if the European side is ready for serious work to negotiate on resolving regional problems, we are ready for serious work too," Zarif said on Sunday, IRNA reported.
He was answering to a question about a Reuters report on Friday that European powers and Iran have started talks over Tehran's role in the Middle East as part of efforts to prove to US President Donald Trump that they are meeting his concerns over the 2015 nuclear deal.
With Trump warning of a last chance for "the worst deal ever negotiated", Britain, France and Germany have been working with US officials to draw up a strategy to improve the Iran nuclear deal in return for Trump keeping the pact alive by renewing US sanctions relief on May 12.
Parallel to those efforts, the three European powers, joined by Italy and the European Union, have allegedly initiated discussions with Iran over its missile and regional activities, which Trump claims are destabilizing, citing alleged Iran's arms support for Yemen's Houthi fighters in violation of UN resolutions.
Tehran denies this and accuses the United States and its main regional allies, namely Israel and Saudi Arabia, of fomenting tensions in the Middle East.
Senior officials from Iran and the four European states held a first meeting on the sidelines of last month's Munich Security Conference to discuss the Yemen conflict and are due to meet again in Italy this month, Reuters cited unnamed officials from the two sides as saying.
Political Propaganda
Zarif denied the Munich talks were meant to satisfy Trump's demand for Tehran's regional clout to be rolled back, describing the report as propaganda.
"Some are seeking to portray these talks as an effort on the part of Europeans to respond to the US claims and demands, which is certainly untrue and is political propaganda," he said.
The Reuters' claim had also been dismissed by Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Bahram Qasemi a day earlier.
"Certainly, [the Iran-Europe meeting] is not something new and strange. But I do not confirm the claims of an agreement to engage in negotiations over specific matters based on a pre-determined mechanism and framework," Qasemi said.
A western-backed Saudi-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against Yemen to put down the Iran-allied Houthi movement and restore power to ousted Saudi-allied president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
Qasemi confirmed but played down the meeting on Yemen, which position was reiterated by Zarif.
Zarif said the Iranian team attended the Munich meeting to seek European contribution to efforts aimed at settling the Yemeni crisis, adding, "We have been long in discussion with the Europeans to convince them to change their approach by [withholding] support for the aggressive [Saudi] regime."
Zarif's remarks came on the same day his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, flew to Tehran.
Le Drian had described Iran's ballistic missile program as a "major concern" and said Iran needed to address concerns over its ballistic missile program or risk new sanctions.
Zarif dismissed Le Drian's warning, saying, "The comments by the western side on the missile and other issues are political rhetoric."
"If EU intends to raise the issue of Iran's defense capability, it should clarify whether it is also ready to discuss huge arms deals with Middle Eastern states, which have turned the region into a powder keg," the top diplomat added.
