Iran has rejected a new European Union request that it take a “time out” from nuclear activity to avoid international sanctions.

Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iranian ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency: “We don’t find any technical or legal grounds for it. And after all, we have said that we cannot start negotiations with preconditions. This is not legal, and this is not justified. It’s not fair. We can immediately start, and we invite them to immediately sit down at the negotiating table, and all issues could be discussed with the parties concerned. We have not even limited the parties concerned.”