Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh has said that Iran is not ready for a new round of face-to-face talks because the Americans “have not abandoned their maximalist position.”

He also said Iran will not hand over its stock of 970 pounds (440 kilograms) of enriched uranium to the United States, calling the idea “a nonstarter.”

Khatibzadeh’s comments follow Iran’s Supreme National Security Council’s remarks that “new proposals” from the US had been put forward and were being reviewed.

Khatibzadeh did not address other proposals for the enriched uranium, saying only that “we are ready to address any concerns.”

Khatibzadeh said no date has been set for the next round of negotiations between Iran and the United States, adding that a framework of understanding must be agreed first.

US President Donald Trump has told Reuters there would probably be more direct talks this weekend, though some diplomats ​said that was unlikely given the logistics of convening in Islamabad, where the ​talks are expected to take place.

“We are now focusing on finalising ⁠the framework of understanding between the two sides. We don’t want to enter into any ​negotiation or meeting which is doomed to fail and which can be a pretext ​for another round of escalation,” Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters on the sidelines of a diplomacy forum in the southern Turkish province of Antalya.

“Until we agree on the framework, we cannot set the date… There ​was significant progress made actually. But then the maximalist approach by the other side, ​trying to make Iran an exception from international law, prevented us from reaching an agreement,” he said, ‌referring ⁠to US demands over Iran’s nuclear programme.

“I have to be very crystal clear that Iran would not accept being an exception from international law. Anything that we are going to be committed to will be within the international regulations and international law.”

Asked ​about reports that Iran ​again closed the ⁠Strait of Hormuz on Saturday after its temporary reopening following a separate US-brokered 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday, Khatibzadeh ​said Iran had announced it would allow the safe passage ​of commercial ⁠vessels in line with the terms of the truce.

“The other side, the American side, tried to sabotage that by saying that it is open except for Iranians. So that was ⁠the reason ​we said that ‘if you are going to violate ​the ceasefire terms and conditions, if Americans are not going to honour their words, there will be repercussions ​for them’,” he said.