Iran says focus of negotiations on ending the war, nuclear issue not being discussed at this stage

According to the semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, "The focus of the negotiations is on ending the war, and at this stage, we are not discussing details of the nuclear issue."

Earlier, on Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that work is in progress to arrive at a peace deal between Tehran and Washington, and he assured that President Donald Trump will not make a bad deal.

When asked about the latest developments on Iran, Rubio told the media, "We're still a work in progress... I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the straits, get the straits open, and enter into a very real, significant time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matters. And hopefully we can pull it off."

Highlighting that the negotiations have good faith and support among the Gulf partners, the US Secretary of State called it the "right thing for the world to get done" and reiterated Trump's remarks of not being in a hurry regarding the negotiations.

"As the president said, he's not in a hurry, he's not going to make a bad deal. We're going to give diplomacy every chance to succeed before we explore the alternatives

"We're either going to have a good agreement or we're going to have to deal with it another way. We'd prefer to have a good agreement", Rubio said.

The development comes after US President Donald Trump on Sunday touted that any future negotiations with Tehran would differ sharply from those negotiated during Former US President Barack Obama's presidency.

Also on Sunday, Trump said that Washington will not "rush into a deal" with Iran to achieve a complete solution to the crisis in West Asia, asserting that the US "blockade" on the ports of the Islamic Republic will remain in "full force and effect" until a formal agreement is reached, certified, and signed between the two sides. (ANI)