Speaking during a joint news conference with Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, Trump said he would meet Iran “anytime they want to”. “I’ll meet with anybody,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with meeting.”
Asked whether he would set any preconditions, Trump was clear. “No preconditions, no. If they want to meet, I’ll meet any time they want,” he said. “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.”
Trump’s apparently spontaneous overture marked a significant shift in tone and follows escalating rhetoric in the wake of his dumping in May of the landmark Iran nuclear accord (JCPOA ).
After the comment, secretary of state Mike Pompeo appeared to contradict Trump, listing preconditions that had to be met first.
Pompeo told CNBC on Monday: "If the Iranians 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."
Another Trump administration official, also contradicted the US president on Monday. Garrett Marquis, a spokesman for the president’s National Security Council, set pre-conditions for any meeting between Trump and Iranian officials.
Marquis said in a statement the US would not lift any sanctions or re-establish diplomatic and commercial relations with Iran until “there are tangible, demonstrated, and sustained shifts in Tehran’s policies”.
Many analysts and experts are saying Trump’s latest offer of talks with Tehran is simply an attempt to misguide or deceive world public opinion, as much as an attempt to deceive public opinion at home. Experts say Trump's hard-line on Iran and unreasonable expectations mean negotiations with Tehran is a non-starter, and extremely unlikely.
