US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States
sees no signs yet of Iran's willingness to sit at the negotiating table, but he
believes the people want Tehran to do so.
"We have not seen any signs yet, but we hope they will
do so, and we believe that the Iranian people will ask them to do so,"
Pompeo told British media in response to a question about Iran's willingness to
negotiate.
"The aim of the US sanctions is to stop Iran's
destabilizing influence in the region and the campaign of targeted
assassinations in Europe and to stop Tehran's support for the Lebanese Hezbollah,
which threatens Americans and Israelis, as well as exploiting the Iranian
people's wealth to incite terrorism around the world," Pompeo said,
adding, "This is not what the Iranian people want."
On November 5, the new set of US sanctions against Iran came
into effect, targeting the country’s financial, energy and transport sectors.
