US Not a Reliable Negotiating Partner

Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said the United States' unilateral withdrawal from agreements made based on international regulations prove that it is not a reliable negotiating partner.

"We're not actually eager to meet with [US President Donald Trump] because the United States is not a reliable negotiating partner," Zarif told Aljazeera in an interview published on Friday when asked whether Iranian officials will ever meet with the US president or members of his administration.

"In politics, never say never. But I believe that there is need for a serious change in the administration."

The chief diplomat said Washington's recent decision to end a decades-old treaty between Iran and the United States once again proved that "whatever you negotiate with this president and with this administration, they're not going to be bound by it."

"They were always saying that we want a treaty with Iran. Now they just withdrew from the [1955 Treaty of Amity] that we have with the United States because the International Court of Justice ruled against them," Zarifsaid. 

He was referring to the fact that the World Court, in a rebuke to the Trump administration, ordered the US on Wednesday to ease some sanctions against Iran, including those related to the supply of humanitarian goods and the safety of civil aviation.

While US sanctions "in principle" exempt food and medical supplies, the court said "it has become difficult if not impossible for Iran, Iranian nationals and companies to engage in international financial transactions" to purchase such goods.

In response to the UN court order, the Trump administration announced that it was terminating the bilateral agreement, on which the case was based.

>Best Deal 

Asked about the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Zarif said, "The nuclear deal is the best the United States can get, and it's the best Iran can get, and it's the best the international community can get."

"We believe it's a deal that is in the interest of the international community," he said, adding that Iran will continue to honor the accord if its national interests are served.

"Iran has given the Europeans some time because they asked us for some time to try to compensate for US departure from the nuclear deal," he added, in reference to efforts by the European Union to keep the deal alive.

"Iran needs to receive the economic dividends of the deal," Zarif said.

Asked about the cause of the prolongation of the civil war in Syria, the foreign minister said the fault lies with those who prevented a political settlement in the Arab country under the illusion that they could remove Syrian President Basher al-Assad from power.

Those who tried to overthrow the legitimate government in Syria by supporting terrorist groups such as the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group are responsible for the drawn-out conflict.