US ready to talk to Iran ‘with no preconditions’

BELLINZONA: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday his country was ready to talk with Tehran “with no preconditions”, but with no indication lifting sanctions over Iran’s nuclear programme is on the table. The top US diplomat, who is considered a hawk on the Iran file, appeared to soften the US stance somewhat following weeks of escalating tensions with Tehran. “We are prepared to engage in a conversation with no preconditions,” Pompeo said in Switzerland, which in the absence of US-Iranian diplomatic ties represents Washington’s interests in Iran. “We are ready to sit down with them,” Pompeo told a joint news conference with his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis at the impressive medieval Castelgrande castle in Bellinzona. He was reacting to comments made by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani insisting that his country would not be “bullied” into talks with the US, and that any dialogue between the two countries needed to be grounded in “respect”. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said his country is “not very likely” to talk with the US despite a stated willingness to talk. — Agencies