US-North Korea Talks to Yield No Result: Ex-Iranian Envoy


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The former Iranian ambassador to China highlighted the US government’s non-commitment to its international obligations and expressed pessimism about the future of Washington-Pyongyang talks, saying the negotiations will likely produce no outcome.    

“The evidence shows that there is no way for these negotiations to yield results,” Javad Mansouri told the Tasnim News Agency.

“Because basically, the US does not follow logic, law, and justice due to its reliance on power and wealth,” the former diplomat noted.

“Given the fact that North Korea has several times experienced the US’s reneging on its promises, it should not be expected that something important occurs in the region through negotiation; unless the White House sometime (in future) is forced to change its views and make some of its commitments operational,” he added.

On Thursday, North Korea’s foreign ministry issued a scathing statement accusing some (unnamed) members of the Trump administration of “going against the intention of president Trump” to improve relations between the US and North Korea.

“Some high-level officials within the US administration are making baseless allegations against us and making desperate attempts at intensifying the international sanctions and pressure,” the statement says.

The “high-level officials” they’re referring to are almost certainly Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is leading the negotiations on the US side, and National Security Adviser John Bolton, who also coordinates efforts related to North Korea.

North Korea is mad that Bolton effectively blamed Pyongyang for the sputtering nuclear talks and because the US continues to restrict North Korea’s interactions with the world.

That’s upsetting to Pyongyang, the ministry says, because it has already made some concessions — like stopping missile tests and returning the purported remains of 55 American troops who served in the Korean War — and hoped Washington would do the same by offering concessions of its own.

“Expecting any result, while insulting the dialogue partner and throwing cold water over our sincere efforts for building confidence,” the statement adds, is “a foolish act that amounts to waiting to see a boiled egg hatch out.”

The statement — boiled eggs and all — is the latest sign that both sides have made little progress in their months-long talks to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program, according to the American news website Vox.