IRNA � Tehran is �a serious partner for all countries� in the fight against the common enemy, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says.

��, because we believe that at the end of the day, these extremist, these Takfiri forces are as much as threat against t us but even more a threat against them (the countries),� Zarif said Monday speaking with Richard Haass at the Council of Foreign Relations.

�Our region has been the scene of many foreign interventions that have an internal dynamic,� said the foreign minister, referring to the Middle East.

�Extremism is on the rise as a consequence of the US [2003] attack on Iraq,� Zarif said.

Zarif went on to point to the ongoing war in Yemen and Syria, calling for an end to the crisis.

�If we don�t agree with each other about the situation in Yemen and Syria, � we can still work together in order to bring these situations to an end,� he said.

�We believe nobody is gaining from continuation of the conflict in Yemen,� Iran�s top diplomat added.

Answering a question on the use of chemical weapons, Zarif said, ��, any country has a red line on the use of chemical weapons except for Iran.

�When we were the victims of the chemical weapons, nobody cared,� he said.

Zarif said as a young diplomat he in a meeting with the president of the United Nations Security Council in 1985, raised the issue of chemical weapons, ��, telling him the chemical weapons were being used in Iraq-Iran war.

�The president of the UNSC told me flatly �I�m not going to listen to you!�� he said.

On the security conditions in the region, the foreign minister stressed �The job of establishing security for countries in the region is their own.�

Zarif also pointed to the mixed signals sent to Iran and the region in recent months by Washington, saying, �We receive contradictory signals, so we don�t know which one to interpret in what way.

�Iran is serious about the nuclear deal. We believe that the nuclear deal can lay the foundations not the ceiling,� he said in reference to the Iran deal, known also as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Asked about Iran�s satisfaction over the level of communication with Washington and the White House, Zarif answered �It is important o have a better understanding.�

�Possibilities for interaction are there; we take advantage of these possibilities. But certainly, I mean, it�s not like with the situation with the previous administration,� he said.

Iran�s Foreign Minister also said that �Iran is committed not to produce nuclear weapons.�

He went on to emphasize ineffectiveness of the Western-imposed sanctions, saying, �The sanctions do not work.�

Asked about accusations by the US regarding Iran missile tests and the possibility of the Iranian missiles to carry nuclear warheads, the top diplomat said, �We don�t have nuclear warheads, so we don�t design anything to carry what we don�t have.�

�We�re ready to engage with anybody on reduction of military expenditures,� he said.

�Our missiles are the means of our defense, we�ll never use them except in self-defense, never,� he added.