Tehran-Saba:
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed on Saturday that lifting sanctions on his country requires negotiations, and not under the policy of maximum pressure.
Iranian news agencies quoted Araghchi in a statement saying: "Negotiation cannot be based on weakness, as this means surrender." He added: "Iran will never sit at the negotiating table under such circumstances."
He continued: "Experience has proven that the United States is a covenant breaker, and Iran will not allow the covenant to be repeated."
The American "Bloomberg" agency confirmed that the first sanctions imposed by US President Donald Trump on Iran "affected three ships in trade with China."
The agency quoted shipping companies and analysts as saying that Trump's first package of sanctions, which targets a number of ships carrying Iranian oil, did not reach the level of the "maximum pressure" campaign that his administration pledged.