President Donald Trump has said the United States will not lift sanctions on Iran in order to enter negotiations with it, in a response to the Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif  who suggested Tehran was still willing to talk on the condition Washington “correct[ed] its past” and removed a series of tough economic measures.

There has been growing friction between the two long-time foes since 2018, when Trump pulled his country out of a landmark nuclear deal signed between Iran and world powers. The US has since reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran’s economy, while calling for negotiations on a new accord that also addressed Tehran’s ballistic missiles programme and its support for regional armed groups.

The tensions reached the highest levels in decades earlier this month after the US assassinated top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad.