US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a press conference in Switzerland, June 2, 2019

In a possible shift of the Trump Administration’s position, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that talks are possible with Iran with “no preconditions”.

Less than two weeks after Administration steps pointed to a possible military confrontation in pursuit of regime change, Pompeo said a news conference in Switzerland:

We’re prepared to engage in a conversation with no preconditions. We’re ready to sit down with them.

The Swiss have represented US interests in Iran since Washington and Tehran broke relations after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Last month, the Administration played up Iranian “threats”, claiming that Tehran-supported forces could attack US troops in the region. A carrier strike group, with the USS Abraham Lincoln and bombers, moved towards the Persian Gulf. More bombers were stationed in Qatar.

Tension escalated further when four ships, including two Saudi Arabian tankers, were attacked, and drone tried to strike Saudi pumping stations. Riyadh and the US blame Tehran for the shipping raid, and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi faction have claimed responsibility for the drone operation.

But US officials then pushed back against the hawkish line of National Security Advisor John Bolton, saying that Trump privately was chiding Bolton — long linked with groups seeking to overthrow the regime — for pursuing “four wars” at once. They also revealed that Trump, in an Oval Office meeting on May 21, stepped back from the show of military capabilities.

The possibility has been compounded by Trump’s desire for a photo-opportunity summit with Iranian leaders, similar to that with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. He declared that he sent “phone numbers” for Tehran to call.

Since then, speculation has grown about indirect contacts between the US and Iran, or at least signals through brokers such as Oman and Japan.

The Supreme Leader has publicly said that any negotiations with the US would be “poison”, and has claimed — in a rebuke to President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif — that he did not support the talks leading to the implementation of the 2015 nuclear agreements between Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, France, Germany, China, and Russia).

The Iranian Foreign Ministry denied reports of indirect talks but added the word “currently”.

US Demands Remain

On Sunday, Pompeo maintained the proviso, “The American effort to fundamentally reverse the malign activity of the Islamic Republic, this revolutionary force, is going to continue.” He continued the language that the talks could occur when Iran began acting like a “normal” country.

Two weeks ago, Pompeo set out 12 demands of Iran, including:

*A permanent end to Iran’s uranium enrichment and closure of its heavy-water reactor
*An end to support of Middle Eastern groups such as Palestine’s Hamas and Islamic Jihad
*A step back from involvement in Iraq, including support of Iraqi militias
*An end to support of Yemen’s Houthis
*Withdrawal of all Iranian forces from Syria
*An end to connections with Afghanistan’s Taliban
*Release of all US citizens and citizens of US partners and allies from Iranian prisons

The Trump Administration withdrew from the nuclear agreement in May 2018 and imposed comprehensive sanctions in November. It has tightened the sanctions this spring, including the designation of the Revolutionary Guards as a “foreign terrorist organization” and an end of sanctions waivers to Iran’s top oil customers.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry was dismissive of Pompeo’s statement, calling it “word play”. A spokesman said Tehran was looking for a change in the US “general approach and actual behavior toward the Iranian nation”.

On Saturday, President Rouhani took a tough line to cover any opening for discussions, implying that sanctions must be removed and declaring an Iranian victory.

He chided the Administration, “A few months ago, their warships were freely coming and going in the Persian Gulf, but today they have dropped their anchors 300-400 miles away in international waters.”

Then he declared:

We support logic and negotiation if [the other side] sits at the negotiating table and fully respects and follows international regulations, not if it issues a decree to negotiate.

In that case we will not buy it.

See also Iran Daily: Rouhani — We Forced Trump Administration to Back Down