Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said that holding direct talks with the United States is not a "red line" for Iran, Tehran Times daily reported on Wednesday. He made the remark after he denied reports that Iran and the United States recently held unofficial talks, saying "Recently, such a thing has not taken place."
The United States broke off diplomatic relations with Iran on April 7, 1980, after a group of Iranian students seized the U.S. embassy in Iran and captured some 60 U.S. diplomats in 1979, and 52 of the captured were held for 444 days in the hostage crisis.
Iranian officials emphasized that any move concerning the Iran- U.S. ties cannot be implemented without seeking the Iranian supreme leader's consent.