Iran says US talks would have been unproductive

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said yesterday that lack of coherent stance among US officials prevented talks between Tehran and Washington.

"The US officials have not made up their mind to hold negotiations with Iran," Asefi told reporters.

"The US was confused whether to talk with Iran or not. Sometimes they set preconditions and sometimes they set no preconditions.

"This is while Iran adopted a transparent stance from the very beginning," he added.

Pointing to the US repeated calls to hold talks with Tehran, he said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran agreed to negotiate with Washington upon a request from Iraqi officials and based on Iraq's interests.

"Iran was not very optimistic about talks with the US from the beginning and did not regard it as practical and constructive."