Trump flashes art of the deal to Iran
Iraqi leaders meet all night following Pompeo visit.
Trump: “We’re not looking to hurt Iran”
US President Donald Trump said he is open to dialogue with Iran about a new nuclear agreement, signaling that the art of the deal is in play.
If Iranian President Hassan Rouhani seeks a diplomatic track, this is it. Trump’s offer of a direct diplomatic channel is likely genuine and certainly par for the course in how his administration deals with adversaries, such as North Korea.
Trump's suggestion that “they [Iran] should call, and if they do, we’re open to talk to them,” may have knocked back even some of his own advisers. His remarks Thursday capped off a week in which he sent a battleship and bomber group to the Gulf in response to what the White House termed “troubling and escalatory indications and warnings” from Iran; US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo canceled a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to fly to Baghdad to meet with Iraqi officials to say that the United States would protect its people if threatened by Iran in Iraq or anywhere else (see below); and the administration announced sanctions on Iranian steel, aluminum and copper exports.
