<p>President Donald Trump may have abandoned the Iran deal, but that doesn&#8217;t mean he isn&#8217;t opposed to meeting with Iranian officials.</p>
<p>&#8220;I would certainly meet with Iran if they wanted to meet,&#8221; said Trump on Monday while next to the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. &#8220;I do believe that they will probably end up wanting to meet. I&#8217;m ready to meet whenever they want to.&#8221;</p>
<p>Trump also said there wouldn&#8217;t have to be &#8220;preconditions,&#8221; although Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did say in an interview following Trump&#8217;s statement that there would have to be some in place prior to meeting with Iran. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;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&rsquo;s worthwhile to enter into a nuclear agreement that actually prevents proliferation, then the president said he&rsquo;s prepared to sit down and have the conversation with them,&rdquo; said Pompeo in an interview on <em>CNBC.</em></p>
<p>Besides pulling the U.S. out of the Iran deal, Trump has criticised Iran for being the &ldquo;biggest sponsor of terrorism around the world.&rdquo; But he is still willing to meet. ;</p>
<p>&#8220;They want to meet, I&#8217;ll meet, whenever they want.&#8221;</p>
<p>Just a week ago, the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Americans &#8220;must understand that war with Iran is the mother of all wars and peace with Iran is the mother of all peace,&#8221; according to the state news agency IRNA. ;</p>
<p>Trump promptly countered that the U.S. isn&#8217;t afraid to respond to threats. ;</p>
<p>&#8220;To Iranian President Rouhani: 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!&#8221;</p>
<p>Iran did not officially reject Trump&#8217;s offer to set a meeting but instead focused on the U.S. and its recent withdrawal from the Iran deal. ;</p>
<p>&#8220;After the US&#8217;s illegal withdrawal from the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), the ball is in Europe&#8217;s court in the limited time remaining,&#8221; said Rouhani of the deal on Tuesday. ;</p>
<p>Some senior Iranian officials went as far as to say that the meeting would be worthless.</p>
<p>However, Rouhani is dealing with the backlash from lawmakers for Iran&#8217;s recent economic struggles. ;</p>
<p>Parliament has summoned Rouhani to appear before the chamber to answer questions. ;</p>
<p>&#8220;Rouhani, a pragmatist who reduced tensions with the West by striking the nuclear deal in 2015, is facing a growing backlash since U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out from the pact in May and said he will reimpose sanctions that seek to throttle Iran&#8217;s economy, including its lifeblood oil exports,&#8221; writes <em>Business Insider.</em> &#8220;According to ISNA, lawmakers also want to Rouhani to explain why, after more than two years of signing a nuclear deal that curbed Iran&#8217;s nuclear program in return for lifting of most international sanctions, Iranian banks still only have limited access to global financial services.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Author&#8217;s note:</strong> Trump has made it clear that he is not afraid to engage. How else are we going to improve relations with Iran? You can&#8217;t win the game unless you&#8217;re in the game. ; ;</p>