US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that he would “happily” go to Tehran to discuss tensions between the two countries, The Times of Israel reported. 

In an interview with Bloomberg, he said he would willingly appear on Iranian television to explain the American reasons for the sanctions.

“I would welcome the chance to speak directly to the Iranian people… about what it is their leadership has done and how it has harmed Iran,” he said.

Pompeo rejected the accusations of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that the US sanctions are nothing more than economic terrorism, that Zarif is also responsible for the Iranian government, as a “the man in the moon.”

“At the end of the day, this is driven by the ayatollah,” he said.

According to him, the US goal is to “create as much stability in the Middle East as we could.”

“So we broke out of the deal, we stopped giving them money, we put pressure on the Iranian regime, and we’re forcing them to make tough decisions about how they’re going to behave,” Pompeo said.