US Open to Negotiations with Iran, Iran Dismisses Offer
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that the Trump administration is prepared to open disussions with Iran’s clerical leaders with “no preconditions.”
“We are prepared to engage in a conversation with no preconditions,” stated Pompeo, speaking at a news conference in Switzerland held with the Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis. “The American effort to fundamentally reverse the malign activity of this Islamic Republic, this revolutionary force, is going to continue,” he added.
Iran has dismissed the offer as “wordplay” masking the US’ hidden agenda. The President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, considers the offer of talks to be a sign of Iran’s strength.
“The enemies sometimes say they have conditions for negotiations with Iran… but in recent weeks they said they have no conditions,” said Rouhani. “They threatened us as if they were a military superpower, but they say they do not seek a war,” he added.
He also underlined that it was the US’ choice to restart negotiations and resume compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. “The side that left the negotiating table and breached a treaty should return to a normal state,” read his comments on the Iranian government website.
Tensions between Iran and the US have drastically increased over the past month after the US tightened Iranian sanctions at the beginning of May. As a result, many countries have stopped importing Iranian oil.
Military confrontation between the two countries has become a real possibility. The Trump administration ordered 1,500 additional troops to the region to counter “Iranian threats” and revised its military policy towards the country.
Although Trump reportedly told his aides that he wants to avoid war, “his foreign officials are pressing him to amplify a maximum pressure campaign against Iran that relies on sanctions and shows of military force,” reported the New York Times.
Pompeo’s comments come less than a week after Trump said he was hopeful that Iran would be willing to come to the negotiating table last Monday.
However, some experts believe that talks of negotiations do not represent a softening for either side.
“We’ve been watching both Iran and the United States in the past several weeks and months ratchet up the pressure and then walk back from their very stern and aggressive positions towards each other,” said Zein Basravi, an Al Jazeera reporter from Tehran.
Whilst they may no longer be headed towards war, “the questions Tehran’s leaders and strategists are asking themselves is what the talks with the United States might actually be about. Iran has said over and over again that it will not renegotiate a nuclear deal,” Basravi continued.
The US State Department has set Iran as a priority over the past year due to what it calls its “expansionist foreign policy.” In 2018, Pompeo demanded 12 things from Iran, including dropping their support of political groups and militia in surrounding Arab countries and releasing American prisoners.
With the US deploying bombers and warships to the Middle East last month, the move towards negotiations is a positive sign. Nonetheless, the situation between the two countries remains very tense.
By Amy Jones