WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday the US is open to speaking with Iranians at the UN General Assembly, but no meeting is currently scheduled.

Rubio said that he US President Donald Trump is open to meeting with anybody because “he believes that engaging with people is important if you’re going to solve problems. Doesn’t mean you’re going to end up agreeing with them, but it’s important.”

“We’re open to that,” Rubio said in an interview with NBC’s “Today” show when asked if Trump was planning to meet with Iranian president. “I don’t think anything is scheduled at this point, but we’re certainly open to something like that, especially if it has the prospects of leading to something positive and ultimately achieving the goal of what this is all about,” he said.

“And that is the fact that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. They just simply can’t.”

Trump seems interested in a meeting

CNN, citing a US official, reported that Trump has told his advisers that he would like to arrange a meeting with Iranian officials who are in New York for the UNGA “if the conditions are right.”

Such a meeting could also be potentially held between Iranian officials and some of Trump’s top advisers traveling with him in New York, the official said.

Questions remain, however, on how meaningful these meetings will be to the Trump administration’s efforts to find an off ramp to the US war with Iran as well as whether the Iranian officials in the US have the confidence of Iran’s Supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei or if they are even open to a potential meeting, CNN said.