U.S. President Donald Trump said he had refused a request by Tehran to lift sanctions in exchange for talks, contradicting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who earlier on Friday said the United States had offered to lift restrictions to facilitate a meeting.

"Iran wanted me to lift the sanctions imposed on them in order to meet. I said, of course, NO!" Trump tweeted.

'Toxic atmosphere'

Rouhani, speaking on his return from the UN General Assembly in New York, said he had met there with U.S. officials at the insistence of Germany, Britain and France.

The United States offered to remove all sanctions on Iran in exchange for talks but Tehran has not yet accepted the offer due to the current "toxic atmosphere," he said.

"It was up for debate what sanctions will be lifted and they (the United States) had said clearly that we will lift all sanctions," Rouhani noted, according to his official website.

Iran was ready for negotiations but not in an atmosphere of sanctions and pressure, the Iranian president said.

"This action wasn't in a manner that was acceptable, meaning that in the atmosphere of sanctions and the existence of sanctions and the toxic atmosphere of maximum pressure, even if we want to negotiate with the Americans in the 5+1 framework, no one can predict what the end and result of this negotiation will be," he said.

Rouhani did not meet Trump in New York and European and Gulf officials expect Washington to keep tightening the vise on Iran's economy.

Escalating tensions 

The United States and Iran are at odds over a host of issues, including the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, U.S. accusations – denied by Tehran – that Iran attacked two Saudi oil facilities on September 14, and U.S. troop deployments to Saudi Arabia.

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(With input from Reuters)