Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian questioned Monday the United States' sincerity in seeking negotiations with Tehran while imposing sanctions, a week after President Donald Trump reimposed "maximum pressure" on the Islamic Republic.

"If the U.S. were sincere about negotiations, why did they sanction us?" Pezeshkian said on the 46th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution, adding it was Israel, not Iran, which was destabilizing the Middle East region.