Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's chief of staff claims the president rejected eight requests from U.S. President Donald Trump last year for one-on-one talks.
The comment is the latest remark suggesting that Iran is not prepared to embark on bilateral negotiations with the United States.
In May, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran.
Last week, he said that with increased American sanctions, "at a certain point they're going to call me and say, 'Let's make a deal.'"
But state-owned IRAN newspaper quoted Chief of Staff Mahmoud Vaezi on Thursday as saying that "it's been the reverse so far," with Trump being the one seeking to initiate talks.
Vaezi said Iran rejected the American requests for the two presidents to meet at last year's U.N. General Assembly meeting.
