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Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks during a recent news conference in Rome. Zarif told NPR that the U.S. has been hesitant and contradictory in its approach to dealing with the self-declared Islamic State. Fabio Campana/EPA/Landov hide caption

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks during a recent news conference in Rome. Zarif told NPR that the U.S. has been hesitant and contradictory in its approach to dealing with the self-declared Islamic State.

Iran's foreign minister says the U.S. has been hesitant and contradictory in its approach to combating extremist groups in Iraq and Syria and that President Obama needs a reality check on the subject of defeating the Islamic State insurgency.

Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaking with Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep in an interview to air on NPR, said the United States is "not serious" about defeating the Sunni extremists.

U.S. interests are "not served by a double-edged policy" in which militants with the so-called Islamic State are dealt with differently whether they are inside Syria or in neighboring Iraq, he said.

"You cannot deal with a terrorist group whose bases are in Syria based on this illusion ... that you can [also] have this pressure on the Syrian government," Zarif told NPR.

Asked if he thinks Obama ought to reach an accommodation with Syrian President Bashar Assad, Zarif replied: "President Obama needs to reach an accommodation with reality."

'We Are Ready' For A Nuclear Deal

On the subject of negotiations over Iran's nuclear weapons program, Zarif said all the "wrong options" have already been tried and that "we are ready" for an agreement.

"The only problem is how this could be presented to some domestic constituencies, primarily in the United States but also in places in Europe," because "some are not interested in any deal," he said.

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Iran's Foreign Minister: U.S. 'Not Serious' About Defeating Islamic State