WarSclerotic

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is open to talks with the Iranian leadership, amid mounting tensions between Washington and Tehran and would like to see them call him.

“What I would like to see with Iran, I would like to see them call me,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We don’t want them to have nuclear weapons — not much to ask.”

The US president also launched an extraordinary attack on John Kerry, claiming that the former US secretary of state was in touch with Iranian leaders and had told them “not to call.”

“John Kerry, he speaks to them a lot,” Trump said. “He tells them not to call.”

Trump claimed this was a violation of the Logan Act, which prohibits private US citizens from negotiating with foreign governments.

In this January 16, 2016 file photo, then-secretary of state John Kerry talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Vienna, after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verified that Iran has met all conditions under the nuclear deal. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool via AP, File)

“Frankly, he should be prosecuted on that,” he said.

“But they should call,” Trump said. “If they do, we are open to talk to them.”

Trump said the US sent an aircraft carrier group to the Persian Gulf because the Iranians “were threatening,” telling reporters coyly that “we have information that you don’t want to know about.”

He said the risk of a military confrontation was “always” present, but added that “hopefully that won’t happen.”

“I want them to be strong and great, to have a great economy,” Trump said, adding that “we can make a fair deal.”

Prosecutions of US citizens under the Logan Act, which was enacted in 1799, are extremely rare.

Kerry, as secretary of state under president Barack Obama, was involved in negotiating the agreement aimed at curtailing Tehran’s nuclear program.

The 2015 JCPOA, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, between Iran and world powers, including the EU, offered sanctions relief to the Islamic republic for scaling back its nuclear program.

Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement last May and reinstated unilateral economic sanctions.

In this photo released by the US Navy, a Sea Hawk helicopter prepares to land on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Adriatic Sea, May 2, 2019. (US Navy/Michael Singley)

On Wednesday, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would no longer implement parts of the deal and threatened to go further if the remaining members of the pact failed to deliver sanctions relief to counterbalance Trump’s renewed assault on the Iranian economy within 60 days.

A spokesman for Kerry condemned Trump’s remarks as “theater.”

“Everything President Trump said today is simply wrong, end of story,” the spokesman said in a statement.

“He’s wrong about the facts, wrong about the law, and sadly he’s been wrong about how to use diplomacy to keep America safe.

“Secretary Kerry helped negotiate a nuclear agreement that worked to solve an intractable problem,” the statement said. “The world supported it then and supports it still.

“We’d hope the President would focus on solving foreign policy problems for America instead of attacking his predecessors for theater.”

WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday threatened a “swift and decisive” US response to any attack by Iran, in the latest of a series of escalating statements and actions.

“The regime in Tehran should understand that any attacks by them or their proxies of any identity against US interests or citizens will be answered with a swift and decisive US response,” Pompeo said in a statement.

“Our restraint to this point should not be mistaken by Iran for a lack of resolve,” he said.

The United States has already announced the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group and nuclear-capable bombers to the region, saying it had information of plans for Iranian-backed attacks.

The moves have frightened some European allies as well as President Donald Trump’s Democratic rivals, who fear the administration is pushing for war based on overhyped intelligence.

Pompeo, who earlier canceled a trip to Greenland to rush back to Washington, however said: “We do not seek war.”

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo walks to board a plane before departing from London Stansted Airport, north of London, on May 9, 2019. (MANDEL NGAN / POOL / AFP)

“But Iran’s 40 years of killing American soldiers, attacking American facilities, and taking American hostages is a constant reminder that we must defend ourselves,” said Pompeo, referencing the 1979 Islamic revolution that transformed Iran from close US ally to sworn foe.

Iran on Wednesday said it would suspend some commitments under a 2015 nuclear accord rejected by Trump, frustrated that renewed US sanctions have prevented the country from enjoying the economic fruits of compliance with the deal.

Earlier Thursday, Trump said he sought talks with Iran.

“What I would like to see with Iran, I would like to see them call me,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We don’t want them to have nuclear weapons — not much to ask.”

US President Donald Trump (C) speaks during event on ending surprise medical billing at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 9, 2019. (Jim WATSON / AFP)

Trump also said Washington was not looking for a conflict with Tehran, but refused to divulge why the carrier had been dispatched.

“We have information that you don’t want to know about,” Trump said, according to Reuters. “They were very threatening and we have to have great security for this country and many other places.”

Asked about the possibility of a military confrontation, he said “I don’t want to say no, but hopefully that won’t happen,”