Washington DC, July 26: United States secretary of state Mike Pompeo has on Thursday said he was keen to visit Iran for dialogues with Islamic Republic leadership in the midst of escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran, calling on the United Kingdom (UK), Japan and other countries to join a maritime military exercise to protect oil tankers shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
When asked Pompeo if he would be willing to visit Iran in an interview with Bloomberg TV, Pompeo said: Sure. If that’s the call, I’d happily go there… I would welcome the chance to speak directly to the Iranian people.”
In another interview with Fox News broadcast, Pompeo stated the US had already urged Australia, South Korea, Germany, France, Japan, and several other countries to join US-led maritime security plan in the Middle East.
“Every country that has an interest in ensuring that those waterways are open and crude oil and other products can flow through the Strait of Hormuz needs to participate,” Pompeo said.
According to a senior diplomat in Tokyo, a key ally of Washington, as per Reuters news reports, Pompeo had held telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday during which Japan wasn’t in a position to decide over if or how to join maritime power until the US provided a framework of how would such a plan work.
“We don’t know where they want to lead,” he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Pompeo’s remarks come a day after Iran tested, on Wednesday, what seemed to be a medium-range missile that has travelled around 1,000 kilometres, a US defence official reported, speaking on a condition of anonymity.