fbpx

News

Pompeo says US ready to talk to Iran

[ssba]

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said yesterday that the Trump administration is prepared to talk with Iran in an effort to ease rising tensions.

Speaking in Switzerland, Pompeo said: “We’re prepared to engage in a conversation with no preconditions. We’re ready to sit down with them, but the American effort to fundamentally reverse the malign activity of this Islamic Republic, this revolutionary force, is going to continue.” Pompeo visited Switzerland and Germany and will arrive in London this week to talk about policy on Iran among other issues.

Previously Pompeo had insisted that Iranian leaders comply with a dozen demands before the US would lift sanctions or re-establish diplomatic and commercial ties with Tehran. The demands included unqualified access to all sites throughout the country for nuclear inspectors, the release of all US citizens currently held by Iran, an end to Iran’s support for Houthi rebels in Yemen, the withdrawal of all forces from Syria, ceasing support for Hezbollah and stop threatening Israel.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif dismissed Trump’s invitation for Iranian officials to contact him about possible talks. “It’s not very likely because talking is the continuation of the process of pressure. He is imposing pressure. This may work in a real estate market. It does not work in dealing with Iran,” Zarif told ABC.

On Saturday Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani suggested Tehran may be willing to hold talks if the US showed it respect. He said: “We are for logic and talks if [the other side] sits respectfully at the negotiating table and follows international regulations, not if it issues an order to negotiate. We have shown that we do not submit to bullying and covetous powers.”

Saudi Arabia last week hosted GCC talks in Mecca during which King Salman accused Tehran of carrying out “terrorist acts” that threaten global energy supplies. A communique issued after the summit said any cooperation with Iran should be based on “non-interference in other countries” and that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had the right to defend their interests.

US National Security Advisor John Bolton said Washington would soon present evidence linking Iran to attacks on oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates earlier this month.