Iran defends two-day proposal for peace talks after US rejects conditions

DUBAI: , Iran ⁠defended a proposal on Monday to restart ​peace talks ​in as few as two days as the most reasonable offer on the table, after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called some of ⁠Iran's conditions 'outrageous and ridiculous'.
'Is it unreasonable that ⁠Iran demands that US illegal sanctions and its naval blockade must be lifted before negotiations start ‌and that the war ​should end ⁠on all fronts?' Foreign Ministry spokesman ​Esmaeil Baghaei told ‌a weekly press conference in response to Rubio's remarks.
Iran ​has made the offer to shorten the time to restart talks from an earlier seven-day proposal, which calls for Washington to first meet ‌conditions including halting hostilities, lifting a blockade ​and waiving sanctions.
Baghaei also said US ​pressure ‌on ⁠Iraq to close most of its borders with Iran should not affect bilateral ​ties with Baghdad, after Iraq's foreign ⁠minister said ​Washington was pushing for such a move. Baghaei dismissed a US military task force aimed at restricting Iran's land ​trade as a diversion following ​President Donald Trump's Republicans' losses in midterm elections.