US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said talks between the United States and Iran on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly did not result in a major breakthrough.

Axar.az reports, citing CNN, that Rubio described the discussions as “a continuation of conversations that have occurred in the past.”

Rubio indicated that Washington no longer considers returning to the memorandum of understanding reached between the US and Iran earlier this year a viable option.

“They killed the MOU, they strangled it,” Rubio said.

The meeting was led on the US side by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Rubio declined to specify the US demands in detail.

Rubio also acknowledged the challenges posed by threats to energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, saying US military escorts to keep oil moving through the waterway would continue.

He again emphasized that preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons remained the central issue for the Trump administration.

“The core issue here is that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. We make that point in every interaction with them,” Rubio said.

Rubio also reiterated that Iranian negotiators do not always have the authority to make commitments on behalf of the Iranian leadership.

“The ultimate decision making in Iran lies in the hands of people that are strong believers in Iran, the revolution, and that makes interactions problematic because you can deal with the people that represent Iran, the state, and you can reach agreement on some points, and you can even discuss the potential for agreement on other points,” Rubio said. “But they have to take that back to Iran the revolution, and it’s there where it’s often failed."