U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Friday that itappeared Iran was inching toward a place where talks could be held, days afterU.S. President Donald Trump left the door open to a possible meeting withIranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Friction between the two countries has deepened since Trump lastyear withdrew from a 2015 international accord under which Iran had agreed torein in its atomic program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.
Washington has renewed and intensified its sanctions, slashingIran's crude oil sales by more than 80%.
"It seems in some ways that Iran is inching toward thatplace where we could have talks and hopefully it'll play out that way,"Esper said at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank in London.
Asked at a press conference later what he was basing hiscomments on, Esper said it was "in light of some of the comments made bythe Iranians in the wake of the G7."
He added: "'Inching' is subtle movements and I think that'sa good thing."
Iran's foreign minister visited France briefly for side talksduring the G7 summit of industrialised nations last month, although he did notmeet Trump.
There was no sign of any softening in Iran's position on Friday,with Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami saying "Iran will nevernegotiate with America, which is our enemy's (U.S.) main goal and no one willhelp the enemy to achieve its goal", Iran's semi-official Fars news agencyreported.
