Tehran, July 1 (IANS) Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has said the country still needs more time to decide about the resumption of negotiations with the United States.

Araghchi made remarks on the possibility of restarting the nuclear talks between Iran and the United States in an interview with CBS News in Tehran.

On a claim by US President Donald Trump that the negotiations could start as early as this week, Araghchi said he did not think the process would restart as quickly as what Trump had claimed, adding, "In order for us to decide to re-engage, we will have to first ensure that the United States will not revert back to targeting us in a military attack during the negotiations."

"And I think with all these considerations, we still need more time," he said, noting that, however, "The doors of diplomacy will never slam shut," Xinhua news agency reported.

On June 22, US forces bombed the three Iranian nuclear facilities of Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan. In retaliation, Iran struck the US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

The attack took place amid a conflict between Iran and Israel, which started on June 13 with the latter's surprise airstrikes on several Iranian cities. A ceasefire was declared between the two sides on June 24.

The Israeli attacks were launched a few days before the sixth round of indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States on Tehran's nuclear programme and the removal of US sanctions, scheduled to be held in Oman's capital Muscat on June 15.

Meanwhile, the Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers on Monday called for the resumption of negotiations to reach a comprehensive, verifiable and durable agreement that addresses Iran's nuclear programme.

In a joint statement on Iran and the Middle East issued by Global Affairs Canada, the foreign ministers called on Iran to urgently resume full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as required by its safeguards obligations and to provide the IAEA with verifiable information about all nuclear material in Iran, including by providing access to IAEA inspectors.

"We underscore the centrality of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime. It is essential that Iran remains party to and fully implements its obligations under the Treaty," read the statement.

G7 foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the high representative of the European Union, met in The Hague on June 25 and discussed recent events in the Middle East.

--IANS

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