US still ready to meet Iran and not 'dogmatic' on how

Iran earlier said timing for talks with US and EU was not 'suitable'

The US said Monday it was still ready to meet Iran and was not "dogmatic" about how, after Tehran rejected an EU-proposed gathering.

"We remain ready to engage in meaningful diplomacy to achieve a mutual return to compliance" in a 2015 nuclear deal, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

President Joe Biden's administration supports a return to the 2015 nuclear accord from which former president Donald Trump withdrew, and on February 18 said it was willing to meet Iran in a meeting proposed by the EU.

The meeting would involve the other signatories of the 2015 agreement – Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.

But Iran said on Sunday that the timing was not "suitable", as it insisted that the US first lift sanctions imposed by Mr Trump.

"As we have made clear, the United States is prepared to meet Iran to address the way forward on a mutual return to compliance," Mr Price said.

"We're not dogmatic about what form that takes. What we are dogmatic about is the underlying commitment that this administration broadly has: that Iran cannot be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon."

Iran has insisted that sanctions imposed by Mr Trump, including a sweeping ban on its oil exports, should be removed before it reverses moves it has made away from nuclear compliance.