SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Iran president rules out talks until US acts 'normal'
Tehran, June 3 (AFP) Jun 03, 2019
Iran's president on Monday ruled out negotiations with Washington until it acts "normal", after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US is ready to talk to Tehran without preconditions.

"The party that has left the negotiating table, the party that has trampled the pact must return to a normal" behaviour, Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech.

"If the enemy truly realises that the path it took was wrong, that will be the day to sit at the negotiation table and fix any issue," the president added.

Tensions have spiked in recent weeks between Tehran and Washington, which last year pulled out of a landmark Iran nuclear accord and imposed tough sanctions on the Islamic republic.

But Washington's top diplomat appeared to soften the US stance on Sunday, saying "we are prepared to engage in a conversation with no preconditions."

Washington is "certainly prepared to have (a) conversation when the Iranians will prove they are behaving as a normal nation," Pompeo said in Switzerland, which represents Washington's interests in Iran in the absence of bilateral relations.

Pompeo however gave no indication that lifting sanctions would be on the table.

On Saturday, Rouhani insisted that Iran would not be "bullied" into talks with the United States, saying "total respect" was needed for negotiations to take place.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
NASA raises chance for asteroid to hit moon
BlackSky plans new satellite network for large-scale AI-driven Earth observation
Fish biofluorescence evolved independently over 100 times in evolutionary history

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Europe's lithium quest hampered by China and lack of cash
ArcelorMittal stops 'green' steel projects in Germany
Thailand credits prey releases for 'extraordinary' tiger recovery

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Trump 'Golden Dome' plan tricky and expensive: experts
France finds cash for 'strategic asset' satellite firm Eutelsat
British FM says 'window now exists' for diplomacy with Iran

24/7 News Coverage
How did life survive 'Snowball Earth'? In ponds, study suggests
Arctic warming spurs growth of carbon-soaking peatlands
Climate change could double summer rainfall in the Alps: study



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.