Mike Pompeo
Mike PompeoReuters

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump could meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the upcoming United Nations meeting with “no preconditions.”

Pompeo’s comments came during a news briefing in which he announced new sanctions on several groups, including Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hamas and the Islamic State (ISIS).

“[Trump] is prepared to meet with no preconditions, but we are maintaining the maximum pressure campaign,” Pompeo said when asked about the possibility of a meeting between the US and the Iranian Presidents at the UN General Assembly later this month.

The comments come as French President Emmanuel Macron seeks to arrange a meeting between the two leaders in a bid to save the 2015 nuclear deal which is in danger of collapsing following Trump’s withdrawal from it last year.

While Trump has stated that there is a "very good chance" he will meet Rouhani, the Iranian President made clear that he will not meet Trump unless all sanctions against Tehran are unilaterally lifted by the US.

The US has imposed a series of sanctions on Iran since withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal, and has sanctioned senior officials such as Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Iran has been scaling back its commitments in the 2015 deal in response to Trump’s withdrawal from the deal.