Iran slams US after Trump nuclear weapons comment

Iran hit out at the United States on Monday for "causing tensions" after President Donald Trump said his government was not seeking regime change and that he would welcome talks with Tehran.

The Trump administration was "hurting the Iranian people and causing tension in the region," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on his Twitter account.

"Actions -- not words -- will show whether or not that's @realDonaldTrump's intent," Zarif added, referencing the US president's Twitter handle.

Zarif also denied Iran was seeking nuclear weapons, after Trump said during a visit to Japan that "we're not looking for regime change (in Iran)... we're looking for no nuclear weapons".

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "long ago said we're not seeking nuclear weapons -- by issuing a fatwa (edict) banning them," the foreign minister tweeted.

Khamenei is said to have issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons in 2003 and has reiterated it several times since.

Iran is locked in a ...