Trump Says Willing to Meet With Iranian Leaders 'Any Time'

US President Donald Trump said Monday he was willing to meet with Iran's leaders with "no preconditions" and "any time they want"—one week after tensions soared between Washington and Tehran.

"I would meet with Iran if they wanted to meet. I don't know if they are ready yet," Trump told a White House press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at his side.

"No preconditions," he added. "They want to meet, I'll meet. Any time they want."

A week ago, after a provocative warning from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani not to "play with the lion's tail," Trump blasted back a reply on Twitter—in all caps.

"NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE," Trump warned Rouhani.

In May, Trump—who has made Iran his public enemy number one—announced the US withdrawal from what he called a "defective" multinational nuclear deal with Tehran, and moved to reinstate punishing sanctions.

The 2015 agreement came in response to fears that Iran was developing a nuclear bomb. Washington's European allies maintain their support for the deal and have vowed to stay in it, though their businesses fear US penalties.

"I ended the Iran deal. It was a ridiculous deal," Trump said. 

"If we could work something out that's meaningful, not the waste of paper that the other deal was, I would certainly be willing to meet."

Trump has repeatedly shown a willingness to cast traditional diplomatic protocol aside and meet with leaders shunned by other administrations, including North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. 

"I believe in meeting," Trump said Monday.

"Speaking to other people, especially when you are talking about potentials of war and death, and famine and lots of other things, you meet."

On July 23, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington was not afraid to sanction top-ranking leaders of the "nightmare" Iranian regime.

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