According to an Iran Press report, the former foreign minister Kharrazi stressed on Tuesday that given Iran's bitter experience of the past with regards to negotiations with the U.S., and the fact that many US administrations have dishonoured their pledges and obligations as part of international agreements, it is only natural that Iran should not value Donald trump's offer of meeting and talking with Iranian officials.
The head of Iran's strategic council of foreign relations added: "The US president loves to meet people, even those who oppose him, but doesn't seem to care much about the outcome of those meetings, and he cares even less about his own often contradictory and illogical statements".
Less than two hours after Donald Trump said he would “certainly meet” Iranian president Hassan Rouhani without preconditions, a senior member of his own administration, secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, rejected Trump’s remarks, and assigned pre-conditions to such a meeting taking place.
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.
