Mike Pompeo said the U.S. is prepared to engage with Iran about its nuclear programme but first needs to see the country behaving like "a normal nation."
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that the United States is prepared to engage with Iran without pre-conditions about its nuclear programme but first needed to see the country behaving like "a normal nation."
He made his comments on Sunday while meeting his Swiss counterpart, Ignazio Cassis, in the Swiss town of Bellinzona.
Pompeo said: "President Trump indicated his willingness to have conversations with the Iranians in the past few days, and his said this not for a long time, just in the past few days. I will certainly prepare to have theses conversations when the Iranians conclude that they want to behave like a normal nation.
"This real challenge is inside of Iran today, they are not caused by the economic sanctions, they are caused by 40 years of Islamic regime".
Mr Pompeo was responding to Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, who suggested on Saturday that Iran may be willing to hold talks if Washington showed it respect, but said Tehran would not be pressured into dialogue.