Pompeo has ‘ulterior motives’ in expressing desire to travel to Iran: Analyst

It is clear that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has “ulterior motives” in expressing his desire to travel to Iran and be interviewed by Iranian news media, according to American political analyst Keith Preston.

On Thursday, July 25, Pompeo said he was willing to go to Iran for talks amid tensions between Tehran and Washington.

Asked if he would be willing to go to Tehran, Pompeo said in an interview with Bloomberg TV, “Sure. If that’s the call, I’d happily go there... I would welcome the chance to speak directly to the Iranian people.”

Some independent observers have said that Pompeo is actually not very interested in speaking with the Iranian people, but actually is concerned by the way Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is presenting Iran’s case on the American media to the US public.

They say Pompeo wants to counter Zarif by pushing the idea of travelling to Tehran and speaking to the Iranian media which has suffered several restrictions in the United States. Washington has also pressured social media giants to block Iranian media channels on YouTube and Google.

Preston said that Pompeo “thinks it’s an opportunity to score some propaganda points.”

“He probably sees this somehow providing with a form in which he can start some propaganda points that he might think would influence the Iranian people,” Preston told Press TV in an interview on Monday.

“Now obviously he’s over-confident about that,” Preston added.

“It may also be something of a bluff; he may also be trying to present himself as somehow being open-minded and open to negotiations,” he continued.

“Now, we know from looking at the behavior of the Trump administration in recent times, we know that the Pompeo and Bolton wing of the Trump administration has continually pushed for more and more aggression by the United States against Iran. We have seen that repeatedly,” the analyst said.

He stated,” Mike Pompeo does not seem to be someone who is interested in peace and equitable negotiations, honest negotiations between the United States and Iran.” 

“So it is clear that Mike Pompeo has ulterior motives,” he noted.

PressTV-Press TV has no plan to interview Pompeo: CEO

The CEO of Iran's English-speaking Press TV channel says the news outlet has no plan to hold an interview with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, after the latter indicated his interest to do so.

Peyman Jebelli, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting’s deputy head and the CEO of IRIB’s World Service said in an interview on Sunday, “We have neither made a request to have an interview [with Pompeo], nor have any plan to arrange an interview with US Secretary of State Pompeo.”

Jebelli’s remarks came after Ali Rabiei, the spokesman for the Iranian administration, said in his weekly press conference earlier in the day that if Pompeo is willing to talk to Iranian reporters, he can have an interview with Press TV correspondent and anchor, Marziyeh Hashemi, who was detained by the US government on baseless grounds during a visit to meet with her family in the United States in January 2019.

Hashemi, a 59-year-old American-born Muslim convert who has lived in Iran for years, was detained at St. Louis Lambert International Airport in Missouri on January 13th while in the US to visit her ill brother and other family members.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir