‘Behave normally!’ Pompeo’s message to Iran before nuclear talks can go happen

However, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi responded by calling the offer “word-play”, and asked for action instead. Mr Pompeo, in an apparent softening of his previous stance, said when asked about Mr Rouhani’s remarks during a joint news conference with his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis in the southern Swiss city of Bellinzona: “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.

Mr Pompeo said US President Donald Trump had been saying for a long time that he was willing to talk to Iran, adding: ”We are certainly prepared to have that conversation when the Iranians can prove that they want to behave like a normal nation.”

Responding to the US offer, Mr 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.”

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.

Mr 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 Mr Rouhani had previously signalled talks might be possible if sanctions were lifted.

Meanwhile, a quarterly report by the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) suggested Iran has stayed within the main restrictions of its 2015 nuclear deal.

Mr Pompeo declined to comment on findings but said: “We also have our own independent understanding of what is taking place there.”

The US was closely watching Iran to assess whether it was complying with the requirements set out in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) aimed at limiting Iran’s potential to develop nuclear weapons, which the Trump administration quit last year.

He said: ”We are watching closely as they put centrifuges into work and whether they are actually beginning to spin those centrifuges and load those centrifuges.”

Last year, Mr Pompeo outlined 12 ways Iran must change – including stopping its support for proxy groups and halting its missile program – before the United States lifts economic sanctions.

He also called on Iran to stop uranium enrichment, never to pursue plutonium reprocessing and to close its heavy water reactor. He said it also had to declare all previous military dimensions of its nuclear program and to permanently and verifiably abandon such work.

Iran and the United States have been drawn into starker confrontation in the past month, a year after Washington pulled out of a deal between Iran and global powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme in return for lifting international sanctions.

Washington re-imposed sanctions last year and ratcheted them up in May, ordering all countries to halt imports of Iranian oil.

In recent weeks it has also hinted at military confrontation, saying it was sending extra forces to the Middle East to respond to an Iranian threat.

source: express.co.uk