BICOM

US President Donald Trump said yesterday that he would meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani without any preconditions, but he expressed doubt that Iran is ready to do so.

Speaking during a joint news conference with Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the White House, Trump said he would meet Iran “anytime they want to”. “No preconditions, no. If they want to meet, I’ll meet any time they want. Good for the country, good for them, good for us and good for the world. No preconditions. If they want to meet, I’ll meet,” he reiterated.

The offer comes just days after the US President threatened Iran with “consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before,” in a tweet. The message followed Rouhani’s warning that “America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars”.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared to contradict Trump later in the day, listing preconditions that had to be met first: He told CNBC on Monday: “If the Iranians demonstrate a commitment to make fundamental changes in how they treat their own people, reduce their malign behaviour, can agree that it’s worthwhile to enter in a nuclear agreement that actually prevents proliferation, then the President said he’s prepared to sit down and have a conversation with him.”

Hamid Aboutalebi, an adviser to Rouhani, tweeted in response to Trump that “returning to the [JCPOA] nuclear deal” and “respecting the Iranian nation’s rights” would pave way for talks.

Garrett Marquis, a spokesperson for the US National Security Council said yesterday that if Iran changes its behaviour “in the ways we’ve identified” then the US would be prepared to end sanctions, re-establish “full” diplomatic and commercial relations, permit Iran to have advanced technology and “support the reintegration of the Iranian economy into the international economic system”.

Iran’s local currency, the rial, hit another record low against the US dollar yesterday, losing almost half its value since May. US sanctions will be reinstated on Iran on 6 August following the US withdrawal from the JCPOA nuclear deal. The sanctions will target Iran’s trade in gold and other precious metals, its purchase of dollars, metals, software and its automotive sector.