TEHRAN – Hours after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered to engage with Iran without pre-conditions, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Tehran expected a change in U.S. behavior rather than “word-play”.

According to Reuters, Pompeo said on Sunday the United States is prepared to engage with Iran “without pre-conditions” about its nuclear program but needs to see the country behaving like “a normal nation”.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran does not pay attention to word-play and expression of hidden agenda in new forms. What matters is the change of U.S. general approach and actual behavior toward the Iranian nation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said, the Mehr news agency reported.

Mousavi said, “Mr. Pompeo’s emphasis on the continuation of maximum pressure on Iran is the same old wrong policy that needs reform.”