Trump Willing to Meet with Iran to Improve Ties? Public Relations Amidst Hostile Threats

US relations with Iran have been dismal since its 1979 revolution, Trump more hostile than his predecessors.

Longstanding US policy calls for regime change. A joint US/Israeli working group was established to destabilize the Islamic Republic by orchestrating anti-government protests – aiming for regime change.

John Bolton and his Israeli counterpart Meir Ben Shabbat are behind the scheme, along with the intelligence apparatus of both countries.

A US white paper discussed tactics for replacing Islamic Republic governance with pro-Western puppet rule – aiming to drive a wedge between Iranians and their ruling authorities.

What was tried at least two times before and failed is being tried again. The notion of Washington under hardline neocon rule wanting to turn a page for improved relations with Tehran is absurd on its face.

At a Monday news conference with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Trump called Iran a “brutal regime,” saying it “must never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon” its government deplores and wants eliminated everywhere.

“We encourage all nations to pressure Iran to end the full range of its (nonexistent) malign activities,” Trump added.

Asked if he’s willing to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, he responded as follows:

“I’ll meet with anybody. I believe in meeting…I would certainly meet with Iran if they wanted to meet. I don’t know that they’re ready yet.”

“I do believe that they will probably end up wanting to meet, and I’m ready to meet any time they want to…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.”

Asked if he has preconditions for meeting, he said:

“No preconditions. No. If they want to meet, I’ll meet.  Anytime they want. Anytime they want.”

“It’s good for the country, good for them, good for us, and good for the world. No preconditions. If they want to meet, I’ll meet.”

Interviewed on CNBC hours later, Secretary of State Pompeo said the following:

“We’ve said this before. If the Iranians demonstrate a commitment to make fundamental changes in how they treat their own people, reduce their malign behavior, can agree that it’s worthwhile to enter into a nuclear agreement that actually prevents proliferation, then the president said he’s prepared to sit down and have the conversation with them.”

Pompeo stipulated preconditions based on Big Lies, the way Washington always behaved toward Islamic Republic sovereignty.

On July 22, Pompeo delivered an anti-Iran address, reciting a litany of long ago discredited Big Lies. In May, he announced 12 demands on the Islamic Republic no responsible leadership would accept.

Trump unilaterally pulled out of the unanimously affirmed JCPOA, a flagrant breach of international law.

On Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi blasted the Trump regime, saying given its unacceptably hostile agenda toward the Islamic Republic, “there will definitely not be the possibility of dialogue and engagement…”

The US proved time and again “that it is totally unreliable.”

“Given the current circumstances and hostile actions of the United States, the country’s withdrawal from the JCPOA and continuation of hostile policies, its efforts to put economic pressure on the Iranian people and its sanctions, I think there are no conditions for such a discussion at all,”

adding:

“America’s hostile policies against Iran continue, and Iran has prepared itself for this behavior, doing what it takes to thwart these conspiracies and hostile policies. Iran and its brave people will be victorious in this battle.”

The Islamic Republic withstood nearly 40 years of US hostility, begun during Jimmy Carter’s tenure, the Trump regime as hellbent for toppling its government as Bush/Cheney, perhaps more so.

US plans to wage war on Iran were drafted by the Clinton co-presidency, hardened under Bush/Cheney, likely toughened further by Pompeo, Bolton and other Trump regime neocon extremists – Israel almost surely involved, wanting its main regional rival eliminated.

A previous article cited unnamed senior Australian PM Malcomb Turnbull government officials, saying the US may bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities as soon as August.

Trump’s war secretary Mattis turned truth on its head, calling Iran a destabilizing Middle East influence.

On Friday, he denied reports of impending US war on the Islamic Republic, calling it “fiction.” Turnbull called it “speculation.”

On July 22, Trump threatened Iran with severe “consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before.”

Hardliners infesting his regime are committed to toppling all sovereign independent governments – notably Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela, among others.

Color revolutions and wars of aggression are favored US strategies.

The notion of White House (and/or congressional) imperial hardliners turning a page for improved relations with these countries is pure fantasy.

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home – Stephen Lendman). Contact at [email protected].

My newest book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html


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Articles by: Stephen Lendman

About the author:

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.

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