“They were a terrorist nation number one in the world at that time and probably maybe are today,” he told British television station ITV, Reuters reported.
When asked if he thought he would need to take military action, he responded that “There’s always a chance. Do I want to? No. I’d rather not. But there’s always a chance.”
When asked whether he was ready to talk to Iranian President Rouhani, he said that “Yeah of course. I would much rather talk.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif condemned on Monday US ‘economic terrorism’ against the Iranian nation, noting that “And war and talks—with or without preconditions—don't go together.”
The remarks came as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said that Washington is keen to hold negotiations with Iran "with no preconditions".
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi had said in response to Pompeo that “The word-play and expression of hidden goals in the form of new words does not matter to the Islamic Republic of Iran, what matters is the change of US overall approach and practical behavior toward the Iranian nation.”
MNA/PR