US official denies any talks with Iran on an interim nuclear deal

The United States and Iran are not discussing an interim nuclear deal, a U.S. official said on Monday, but Washington has told Tehran of steps that might
trigger a crisis and also those that may create a better climate between the long-time antagonists.
His comment went further than a U.S. denial last week, which called a report the nations were nearing an interim deal “false and misleading” and said reports of such a deal were “false” but did not deny the possibility of talks about one.
The official did not deny media reports of recent U.S.-Iranian contacts but rather said that suggestions they were about an interim nuclear deal were inaccurate.
“We have made clear to them what escalatory steps they needed to avoid to prevent a crisis and what de-escalatory steps they could take to create a more positive context,” he said, declining to detail these but noting Washington would like to see greater Iranian cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog.