US ready to talk to Iran "with no preconditions" … if it behaves like a "normal nation" – Pompeo

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US is ready to engage in talks with Tehran without preconditions, yet rolled out the same demand other US adversaries have already heard – it should behave like a “normal nation.”
“We are prepared to engage in a conversation with no preconditions, we are ready to sit down,” Pompeo said during a joint news conference with his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis on Sunday.

Such a statement might have looked like an attempt to tone down the hostile rhetoric toward Tehran, yet Pompeo managed to contradict himself in the very same speech. The negotiations would actually be only possible if Iran behaves like a “normal nation,” he added.

“We are certainly prepared to have that conversation when the Iranians can prove that they want to behave like a normal nation,” the official stated...

It's not the first time Washington has sent mixed signals to Tehran over its willingness to negotiate. Last June, President Donald Trump expressed readiness to talk to Iran “anytime they want” with no preconditions – but hours after Pompeo rolled out a list of 12 far-reaching demands Iran had to meet before such talks would happen.