Trump says he’s willing to talk to Iran without preconditions, Iran rejects offer as ‘humiliation’, without value

US President Donald Trump on Monday said he would be willing to meet Iranian leaders without preconditions to discuss how to improve ties between the two countries after he acted to reimpose sanctions on Tehran following his withdrawal from a landmark nuclear deal saying, “If they want to meet, we’ll meet” but Iran has rejected Trump’s offer of talks without preconditions as worthless and “a humiliation.”

Speaking at a White House news conference on Monday, Trump said:

I’d meet with anybody. I believe in meetings, especially in cases where war is at stake.

Reacting to Trump's call, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Trump’s repudiation of the accord reached in 2015 was “illegal” and Iran would not easily yield to Washington’s renewed campaign to strangle Iran’s vital oil exports.

In May, Trump pulled the United States out of the multilateral deal concluded before he took office, denouncing it as one-sided in Iran’s favour. 

Since then Iran and other signatories have been working to find a way to salvage the agreement, even as the United States has begun reimposing some sanctions on Iran.

On July 22, Rouhani had addressed Trump in a speech, saying that hostile U.S. policies could lead to “the mother of all wars”.

Trump in a tweet directed at Rouhani said: “Never, ever threaten the United States again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before. We are no longer a country that will stand for your demented words of violence & death. Be cautious!”

But on Monday, Trump, speaking at a news conference with visiting Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte, said:

I would certainly meet with Iran if they wanted to meet. I don’t know that they’re ready yet. I ended the Iran deal. It was a ridiculous deal. I do believe that they will probably end up wanting to meet and I’m ready to meet any time that they want to.

Trump said he had “no preconditions” for a meeting with the Iranians, adding: “If they want to meet, I’ll meet.”

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,” he added, noting that it would be good for the United States, Iran and the world.

World powers and Iran have been working on an economic package to compensate for US sanctions that begin taking effect in August.