TEHRAN - Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said on Tuesday that North Korea has taken “vigilant decisions” against the U.S. unilateral demands.

“The U.S. does not seek a proper deal with North Korea. They [the U.S.] seek to disarm this country [North Korea] and impose pressure on it,” Larijani said in a meeting with Vice Chairman of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly Pak Chol-min in Tehran.

Larijani noted, “North Korean leader [Kim Jong-un] acted well in talks with the United States and did not let them [U.S. officials] reach their objectives.”

For his part, Pak said that the U.S. has “illogical” and “unilateral” demands in talks with Pyongyang.

Pak noted that the U.S. obstructs talks by putting forward the issue of sanctions.

North Korea seeks to have an independent economy, he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump and the North Korean leader held a meeting in Singapore in June 2018. 

They held their second meeting in Hanoi in February which broke up amid disagreement on sanctions relief.

In their third, brief meeting at the Korean border in June, Kim and Trump agreed to kick-start working-level talks.

But the talks have effectively stalled in recent months after the collapse of the second Trump-Kim summit, which came after Pyongyang reportedly demanded that the U.S. lift sanctions in exchange for denuclearization, according to Press TV.

The North has, in recent weeks, resumed the missile tests that it had stopped to give the diplomatic process with Washington a chance.

‘U.S. cannot be trusted’

In a separate meeting with the North Korean official and his delegation, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araghchi said that the U.S. cannot be trusted in talks.

Washington’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and his performance in talks with North Korea proved that the United States cannot be trusted, Araghchi remarked.

He noted that the U.S. most important tool against independent countries like Iran and North Korea is economic sanctions, however, it has not been able to weaken the two countries’ determination.

The Iranian and North Korean officials also discussed expansion of relations.

NA/PA