Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made his statement at a rally to mark the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

“You pull away the gun from the face of the Iranian nation, I myself will enter the talks with you,” he said.

His statement is in stark contrast to the words of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme leader of Iran, who has the final say on all key decisions, who said earlier this week that talking to the US would not solve any problems.