After Saudi Arabian officials announced their willingness to de-escalate tensions with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Javad Zarif, Iran’s minister of foreign affairs stated that “if Saudi Arabia is ready to talk, we are always prepared to have a dialogue with our neighbors.”

According to IRNA, a state-owned news agency, in the Wednesday cabinet meeting, Zarif mentioned that UAE’s behavior in the region has changed, and said: “We want good relations with our neighbors if they change their policies and stop intervening in domestic affairs of other countries.”

Regarding the offer of direct negotiation from the United States, Zarif said: “We have no reservations about negotiating over issues that we have agreed upon.”

He once again criticized U.S sanctions and claimed that “the economic war is not against the government; it is against people and sick kids.”

“Those who left the negotiation table must comply with their commitments,” Zarif added.

While referring to Pompeo’s request to travel to Iran and interview with the media and talk to the Iranian people as Zarif does in the United States, Zarif said this is a “propaganda stunt” and that: “They have been asked before for interviews and they rejected it. Now they want to claim that they can’t talk to the Iranian people.”