RFE/RLSat, 01 Jun 2019 19:23 UTC
An Iranian news agency says President Hassan Rohani suggested that Tehran may be willing to hold talks if the United States showed it respect.
Rohani also said Tehran would not be pressured into negotiations, according to the semiofficial Fars news agency.
Rohani's comments on June 1 come as the standoff between Tehran and Washington deepens, one year after Washington pulled out of a 2015 landmark nuclear deal between world powers and Iran that curbed the country's nuclear program in exchange for relief from crippling economic sanctions.
President Donald Trump reimposed economic sanctions on Iran last year, then increased them further in May when he ordered countries to halt imports of Iranian oil.
More recently, Trump ordered an aircraft carrier battle group to the region, and announced the deployment of extra forces to the Middle East.
Fars quoted Rohani as saying: "We are for logic and talks
if [the other side] sits respectfully at the negotiating table and follows international regulations, not if it issues an order to negotiate."
On May 29, Trump said Washington wasn't looking for "regime change" in Iran.
"It has a chance to be a great country with the same leadership... We aren't looking for regime change -- I just want to make that clear," Trump said.
Rohani noted Trump's remarks.
"The same enemy which declared its aim last year to destroy the Islamic republic of Iran today explicitly states that it does not want to do anything to [our] system," Rohani said.
Comment: The day after, Pompeo said the U.S., for its part, is willing to talk to Iran with
no preconditions:
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States is willing to talk to Iran with "no preconditions" but will continue to pressure the country.
Pompeo made the comments on June 2 after talks with his Swiss counterpart, Ignazio Cassis, in the southern Swiss town of Bellinzona. Switzerland represents U.S. interests in Iran.
"We are prepared to engage in a conversation with no preconditions. We are ready to sit down with them," Pompeo told a joint news conference with Cassis, adding that "the American effort to fundamentally reverse the malign activity of this Islamic republic, this revolutionary force, is going to continue."
Responding to Pompeo's remarks, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Musavi said that Iran "does not pay attention to word-play." He also ruled out talks between Tehran with Washington unless the United States changes its "general behavior."
What RFE/RL left out was Pompeo's
condition for such talks: that Iran act like a "normal" country:
"We are certainly prepared to have that conversation when the Iranians can prove that they want to behave like a normal nation," the official stated.
So, Iran has to act "normal" and the U.S. has to abide by international law. The former seems doable. The latter is unlikely.
Comment: The day after, Pompeo said the U.S., for its part, is willing to talk to Iran with no preconditions: What RFE/RL left out was Pompeo's condition for such talks: that Iran act like a "normal" country: So, Iran has to act "normal" and the U.S. has to abide by international law. The former seems doable. The latter is unlikely.