Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif Tuesday warned that the United States is playing a "very, very dangerous game," and vowed that his country will defend itself against escalation.
"The United States doesn't have the legal or moral position, does not have the political position, does not have the international position to impose economic war on Iran," Zarif told CNN's Frederik Pleitgen. "Iran is not interested in escalation. We will not be the party to begin escalation, but we will defend ourselves."
Further, he said that escalation is "in and of itself prone to accident, particularly when you have people interested in accidents. Extreme prudence is required."
His comments came after President Donald Trump warned Monday that Iran would be met with "great force" if it attacks U.S. interests in the Middle East, but added that "we have no indication that they will."
Zarif told Pleitgen that even while Trump has continued to call for negotiations, Iran is "not willing to talk to people who have broken their promises."
"We did not believe our nuclear program, our nuclear energy program, required us to provide any concessions or provide any confidence-building measures," Zarif said.
"We engaged," he added. "We acted in good faith. We negotiated. We reached a deal. What the United States is saying is that we make a deal. Whatever we can get you in the negotiations to the deal is fine. Whatever we cannot get you, we'll come back to try to get you. This is not the way serious countries deal with each other. The United States may be used to doing that with clients, but they cannot do that with Iran."