According to IRNA, Matthew Miller responded when a reporter asked him at a press briefing on Monday local time about Ali Bagheri Kani’s announcement that the exchange of messages between Iran and the United States is continuing.

Miller refused to confirm Ali Bagheri's words but said: "We have always declared that we have the necessary ability to send a message to Iran and we do this when it is in line with our interests."

Iran's acting foreign minister at a news conference during a visit to Beirut while commenting on efforts to lift sanctions confirmed that negotiations with the United States still ongoing through Oman. "We have always continued out negotiations... and they have never stopped."

Washington and Tehran have not had diplomatic relations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Iran inked a landmark nuclear deal in 2015, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with several world powers in 2015 with the aim of canceling crippling sanctions. Iran implemented its obligations under the deal flawlessly which was confirmed in 16 reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

But after the US under President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal unilaterally, adopted positions contrary to the provisions of the JCPOA and imposed sanctions on Iran as well as European signatories too failed to abide by the deal, Iran was forced to reduce its obligations under the JCPOA in several steps.

After taking office in January 2021, the Biden administration criticized the action of the former government, but continued with the so-called maximum pressure policies of the Trump administration against Iran under different pretexts.