Zarif dismisses possibility of phone talks with Pompeo

TEHRAN (defapress) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has dismissed any possibility of holding a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

News ID: 77546

Date: 25 May 2019 - 14:51

“Pompeo makes sure that every time he talks about Iran, he insults me...Why should I even answer his phone call?” Zarif was quoted as saying by Reuters, in response to a question that whether the two diplomats would hold a phone conversation over the recent growing tensions between the two countries.

Zarif and the current US Secretary of State have never spoken directly, according to Iran’s mission at the United Nations.

This is while, three years ago, when Iran’s military captured 10 US troops after they trespassed into the Iranian waters, then US Secretary of State John Kerry and Zarif held a phone conversation on the issue.

In response to a question that if the recent tensions could be resolved via phone conversation, Zarif said, “No… How could it be averted?”

Back on May 9, US President Donald Trump publicly appealed to Iran to call him, amid the escalating tensions between the United States and Iran over the Trump administration’s hegemonic policy towards the Islamic Republic.

On the same day, CNN reported that the White House has contacted Swiss authorities to share a telephone number with Iran in hopes that Tehran will contact Trump.

However, Iran has dismissed the suggestion, saying the US should first respect the 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump unilaterally withdrew from last May.

Last week, US State Department claimed that “when the time to talk comes, we are confident we will have every means to do so.”

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