Iran Press/America: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday the United States was prepared to engage with Iran without preconditions but added it needed to see the country behaving like 'a normal nation'.
According to Iran Press, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is on a week-long trip to Europe, where he is raising sensitive issues with national leaders, from Iranian missiles to Chinese technology to the economic situation in Venezuela.
On Sunday, US Secretary of State met with his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis for talks in the southern Swiss town of Bellinzona.
Pompeo said: "We are carefully following the activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and we have our own independent way of assessing what is happening in Iran."
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"We are prepared to engage in a conversation with no preconditions. We are ready to sit down with them," Pompeo said in a joint news conference in Switzerland with his Swiss counterpart, continued to claim that "The American effort to fundamentally reverse the malign activity of this Islamic Republic, this revolutionary force, is going to continue".
“I’m not going to talk about how we’re communicating or not communicating with (Iran),” Pompeo told reporters, adding that "If they want to talk, I’m available”.
It should be noted that about a year ago, just after Donald Trump decided to withdraw the United States from the multilateral nuclear agreement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had drawn up a set of 12 preconditions for engaging and talking with Iran, among them the dismantling of Iran's missile programme, and stopping Iran's support to the Resistance Front. It seems that the US government has made a u-turn on its preconditions for talks with Iran, and no longer insists on such preconditions.
Pompeo's latest comments come amid continuing tensions between Washington and Tehran. Iran has repeatedly said it would not talk to the US while it is under threats. Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani says Tehran will not be 'bullied' into negotiations with tightened sanctions and threats by Washington.
"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," Rouhani said.
From Switzerland, Pompeo will head to the Netherlands on Monday before flying on to London to join Trump’s state visit to Britain. 203/211/212
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