The United States is prepared to engage with Iran without pre-conditions about its nuclear program but needs to see the country behaving like "a normal nation", US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday. Iran responded by calling the offer "word-play" and asked for action instead.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani suggested on Saturday that Iran may be willing to hold talks if Washington showed it respect, but said Tehran would not be pressured into talks. Pompeo, in an apparent softening of his previous stance, said when asked about Rouhani's remarks: "We are prepared to engage in a conversation with no pre-conditions. We are ready to sit down."
However, he said Washington would continue to work to "reverse the malign activity" of Iran in the Middle East, citing Tehran's support to Hezbollah and to the Syrian government. Pompeo said US President Donald Trump had been saying for a long time that he was willing to talk to Iran.
"We are certainly prepared to have that conversation when the Iranians can prove that they want to behave like a normal nation," Pompeo told a joint news conference with his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis in the southern Swiss city of Bellinzona. Responding to the US offer, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said: "The Islamic Republic of Iran does not pay attention to word-play and expression of hidden agenda in new forms. What matters is the change of US general approach and actual behaviour towards the Iranian nation."
Mousavi was quoted as saying by Mehr news agency "Pompeo's emphasis on the continuation of maximum pressure on Iran is the same old wrong policy that needs reform." Last year, Pompeo outlined 12 ways Iran must change - including stopping its support for proxy groups and halting its missile program - before the United States lifts sanctions.
Trump said last Monday he was hopeful Iran would come to the negotiating table. But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday Tehran would not negotiate with Washington, even after Rouhani had previously signalled talks might be possible if sanctions were lifted.
In an interview that aired Sunday on ABC's "This Week", Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif saw little chance of taking up Trump's offer. "It's not very likely because talking is the continuation of the process of pressure. He is imposing pressure," Zarif said. "This may work in the real estate market. It does not work in dealing with Iran." Cassis voiced concern at Iranian people suffering from the impact of sanctions and said that neutral Switzerland wanted to provide humanitarian aid, "especially pharmaceutical products and foodstuffs."