Trump willing to meet with Iran
President would have ‘no preconditions’
Washington — President Donald Trump declared Monday that he would meet Iran’s leaders “anytime they want,” an invitation for face-toface dialogue with a country he had appeared to threaten with war only days before and an affirmation of Trump’s faith in his brand of personal diplomacy.
Trump said he would meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani without preconditions, because “I believe in meeting.”
“No preconditions,” Trump said of a meeting with Iranian leaders. “No. They want to meet, I’ll meet. Anytime they want. Anytime they want. It’s good for the country, good for them, good for us, and good for the world. No preconditions. If they want to meet, I’ll meet.”
Trump was responding to a question at a joint news conference at the White House with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
Last week, tension between the United States and Iran escalated after Trump appeared to threaten military action against Iran in a tweet and Iranian officials vowed to resist any attempt to destabilize their country.
The United States will reimpose sanctions on Iran next week as part of Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 international nuclear compact with Tehran. Trump said Monday that he thinks Iran will want to negotiate with him eventually, opening the door to new talks about its nuclear program.
“I believe in meeting. I would certainly meet with Iran if they wanted to meet. I don’t know that they’re ready yet,” Trump said. “They’re having a hard time right now.”
That was an apparent reference to economic constraints and the loss of potential markets as a result of the U.S. sanctions.
“I ended the Iran deal. It was a ridiculous deal. I do believe that they will probably end up wanting to meet,” Trump said.
“And I am ready to meet anytime they want to. And I don’t do that from strength or from weakness. I think it’s an appropriate thing to do. If we could work something out that’s meaningful, not the waste of paper that the other deal was, I would certainly be willing to meet.”
Trump also claimed he had “a great meeting” with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki two weeks ago, despite what he said was unfairly negative press coverage of a session that produced unusual criticism from congressional Republicans. Trump similarly defends his June summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a bold stroke that has made the world safer.
Iranian state news media reported Trump’s offer to meet Rouhani while noting that there was no immediate official response. The state-run Press TV website reported, however, that Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi had suggested earlier in the day that negotiating with the Trump administration was practically impossible, given what he described as fierce hostility to Iran.
“With current America and these policies, there will definitely not be the possibility of dialogue and engagement, and the United States has shown that it is totally unreliable,” Qassemi said Monday during a weekly news briefing, according to Press TV. He was responding to questions about a previous Trump statement that he was ready “to make a real deal” with Iran.