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US ready to talk with Iran ‘sans preconditions’

By AFP
June 03, 2019

BELLINZONA/TOKYO/TEHRAN: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday his country was ready to talk with Tehran "with no preconditions", but there was no indication if lifting sanctions over Iran’s nuclear programme was on the table.

The top US diplomat, who is considered a hawk on the Iran file, appeared to soften the US stance somewhat following weeks of escalating tensions with Tehran. "We are prepared to engage in a conversation with no preconditions," Pompeo said in Switzerland, which in the absence of US-Iranian diplomatic ties represents Washington’s interests in the Islamic Republic.

"We are ready to sit down with them," Pompeo told a joint news conference with his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis at the impressive medieval Castelgrande castle in Bellinzona, nestled in the Alps in Switzerland’s Italian-speaking Ticino region.

He was reacting to comments made by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday insisting that his country would not be "bullied" into talks with the United States, and that any dialogue between the two countries needed to be grounded in "respect".

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also said in an interview with the American network ABC broadcast Sunday that it was "not very likely" that Tehran would agree to talks with the US any time soon. US President Donald Trump, he said, "is imposing pressure." "This may work in a real estate market. It does not work in dealing with Iran," he said, insisting that "threats against Iran never work. Try respect. That may work."

Pompeo himself also appeared to back-pedal on the offer to have condition-free talks with Iran, stating that Washington was “certainly prepared to have (a) conversation when the Iranians will prove they are behaving as a normal nation.”

Nonetheless, Pompeo’s comments mark the first time the Trump administration has offered no-strings-attached talks since the recent escalation began in the wake of the US withdrawal from a hard-won 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

But Pompeo stressed that “the American effort to fundamentally reverse the malign activity of this Islamic Republic, this revolutionary force, is going to continue.” In other words, Washington has no intention to let up on its campaign of “maximum pressure” on Iran.

Swiss Foreign Minister Cassis meanwhile voiced his country’s readiness to play the role of “intermediary” between the two countries. But he stressed Switzerland could not be “mediators if there is not willingness on both sides.”

Cassis also voiced concern about the “great suffering” in Iran brought about by the US sanctions, and urged Washington to identify a financial “channel” to allow the Iranians to purchase humanitarian aid without being slapped with US punitive measures.

Pompeo did not respond directly to this request, but he rejected the notion that US sanctions were causing suffering, instead blaming the leadership in Tehran. The challenges facing Iranians “are not caused by our economic sanctions,” he said. “They’re caused by 40 years of the Islamic regime not taking care of their people and instead using their resources to destroy lives.”

He meanwhile preferred to remain discreet about efforts, largely led by Switzerland, to ensure the release of a handful of American citizens being held in Iran, stating only that the issue was a top priority for Trump, and that Washington is “working with all willing nations to assist us.”

Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei later this month with Tokyo hoping to mediate between Washington and Tehran, a report said Sunday.

As tensions intensify between Iran and Japan’s key ally the United States, Abe has reportedly proposed serving as a go-between and is said to be weighing up a state visit to Iran. According to the Mainichi Shimbun report, Abe’s planned meeting with influential Khamenei will be the first such talks between a Japanese premier and Tehran’s supreme leader.

US President Donald Trump said last week he remained open to talks with Tehran during his state visit to Tokyo, appearing to have given the green light to Abe’s plan. Abe will also meet Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani before meeting Khamenei during his tour to Iran from June 12 to 14, the newspaper said, citing unnamed government sources.

Japan and Iran have kept a good relationship as resource-poor Japan relies heavily on imports of oil from the Middle East, though crude from Iran accounted for just 5.3 percent of the country’s total imports last year.

In the meanwhile, Tehran on Sunday ruled out talks with Washington unless it changes its “general behaviour”, after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said his country was ready for negotiations with Iran.

“The change of the general behaviour and actions of the United States of America regarding the Iranian nation is the criterion” required for any talks to take place, said foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Moussavi, adding Pompeo was “playing with words”.