Tehran is moving in the wrong direction in the situation with the nuclear deal, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken told US Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

The US foreign minister was asked whether the recent shelling of the al-Asad airbase in Iraq used by the US military will affect the US desire to return Iran to the negotiating table and whether Washington is ready to abandon some of the sanctions against Tehran to do so. 

According to Blinken, the EU, which is one of the parties to the original agreement, has invited all the other parties - European partners, as well as Russia, China, Iran - to come together to begin discussing a possible return to the nuclear deal.

Asked whether Washington is considering the possibility of lifting the anti-Iranian sanctions, Blinken said that Iran first must return to its obligations under the nuclear agreement.

Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said on Tuesday that in order to start a dialogue with the United States, Tehran must make sure that Washington lifts the sanctions.