President Donald Trump said during a Monday joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte that he would meet with the leaders of Iran with "no preconditions."
A Reuters reporter asked Trump if he would meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a similar way he met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladamir Putin.
"You have met with the leaders of North Korea and Russia. Are you prepared also -- will you willing to meet with the President of Iran? And under what conditions?" the reporter asked.
"I will meet with anybody," Trump said. "Speaking to other people, especially when you are talking about potentials of war and death, and famine and lots of other things, you meet. There is nothing wrong with meeting."
"I would certainly meet with Iran if they wanted to meet. I don't know that they are ready yet. They are having a hard time right now," Trump added.
In May, Trump announced the United States would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and left open the possibility of negotiating a new deal with the Iranian regime. Iranian protesters have taken to the streets in a series of recent protests that began in December of 2017 to express discontent with the current regime’s management of the economy and support of proxy terror organizations in the Middle East.
The reporter followed up and asked if the president had any preconditions for meeting with Iranian leaders.
"No preconditions; If they want to meet, I'll meet," Trump responded.
Last week, Trump tweeted an all-caps message at the Iranian president with a warning about what would happen should he threaten the United States again.
"To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!" Trump tweeted.