Tasnim � Iran�s Foreign Ministry denied a report quoting a Kuwaiti official as saying that Tehran and Washington have launched direct talks.


In a statement on Sunday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi categorically rejected the�report that has quoted a Kuwaiti diplomat as announcing the start of talks between Iran and the US.

�There is no direct or indirect negotiations between Iran and the US,� the spokesperson underlined.

His comments came after Asharq al-Awsat Arab-language newspaper, based in London, said in a story on Saturday that Kuwait�s Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah has announced the launch of direct talks between Tehran and Washington.

Last week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani roundly dismissed the idea of direct negotiations with the US under the current circumstances, stressing the need for resistance against an ongoing economic war waged by Washington.

Earlier this month, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei underlined that there will be no military confrontation between Iran and the US as Washington is aware that it won�t be in its interest, adding that negotiation with the US is not on the Islamic Republic�s agenda either.

�The Iranian nation�s definite option will be resistance in the face of the US, and in this confrontation, the US would be forced into a retreat,� Ayatollah Khamenei said. �Neither we nor they, who know war will not be in their interest, are after war.�