Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has ruled out any early meeting with US President Donald Trump, again reiterating demands that Washington must first remove crippling sanctions against his country, writes Nassir Shirkhani.

The sanctions have particularly hit the Iranian oil industry by making it difficult for Tehran to sell its oil to major clients in Asia and Europe.

Rouhani’s comments came amid diplomatic efforts in New York to set up a meeting between the two presidents during the United Nations General Assembly.

US-Iran relations have taken a turn for the worse since 14 September when attacks, blamed on Iran, knocked out half of Saudi Arabia’s oil production by striking at key oil and gas processing facilities.

Asked if there was any chance the two leaders would speak to each other in New York during the week, Rouhani told Fox News: "Why would we bump into one another?" If we seek to pursue higher goals to benefit both countries, both people, it must be planned, and talks must be based on those plans.

"But prior to that, we must create mutual trust, and the trust that is something that Mr Trump took away from this framework.

"We had an agreement. Mr Trump exited without a valid justification, and illegally, from an international agreement. So, if the United States of America’s government is willing to talk, it must create the needed conditions."

Trump said on Sunday he had "no intention" of meeting with Rouhani during the summit in New York City.

"Nothing is ever off the table completely, but I have no intention of meeting with Iran," he told reporters.

Earlier, Iran's foreign minister had raised the prospect of a new agreement with the US that would see permanent sanctions relief exchanged for a complete end to Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Mohammad Javad Zarif outlined an agreement that would make changes to the 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump ditched and subsequently imposed sanctions on Iran last year.

Iran would be prepared to sign an additional protocol, allowing for more intrusive inspections of the country's nuclear facilities at an earlier date than that set out in the 2015 deal.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would also enshrine a ban on nuclear weapons in law, said Zarif.

Such a move could potentially address one of Trump's main objections to the existing deal — sunset clauses that allow Iran to resume higher levels of uranium enrichment.

Meanwhile, the leaders of Germany, the UK and France issued a joint statement at the UN saying there was no doubt Iran was behind the apparent drone and missile strikes on Saudi oil facilities.

“It is clear for us that Iran bears responsibility for this attack,” the statement said. “There is no other explanation.”

“These attacks may have been on Saudi Arabia but they concern all countries and increase the risk of a major conflict.’’

The European powers also urged Tehran to act more responsibly and in line with the terms of the Iran nuclear deal.

All three countries are signatories to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — commonly referred to as the nuclear deal — between Iran and world powers, which, offered Iran relief from global sanctions in exchange for imposing limitations on its nuclear programme.

Ever since the US withdrew from the nuclear agreement last year, the European countries who are party to the agreement, which include the nations from the statement, have tried to maintain good relations with Tehran.

Weekly

Rouhani rules out Trump early meeting