"Mr Trump! Iran is not North Korea to accept your offer for a meeting," said IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari as quoted by the state Fars News agency. "Even US presidents after you will not see that day."Jafari's statement comes just one day after Trump expressed a willingness to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani "anytime they want," with no preconditions. Meeting his Iranian adversaries, Trump said, would be "good for the country, good for them, good for us and good for the world."
Officials from both sides, however, have stressed the need for certain conditions to be met before a meeting could take place. Hours after Trump extended the offer to Tehran, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo contradicted Trump and placed a raft of conditions on any future meeting.
"If the Iranians demonstrate a commitment to make fundamental changes in how they treat their own people, reduce their malign behavior, can agree that it's worthwhile to enter into a nuclear agreement that actually prevents proliferation, then the president said he's prepared to sit down and have the conversation with them," Pompeo told CNBC.
Comment: Whatever Trump may have had in mind for a new agreement with Iran, Pompeo has added fuel to the fire with his incendiary response.