Iran 'highly sceptical' on US-N Korea talks
Tehran: Iran said on Monday that it remains dubious about the prospects for talks between the United States and North Korea, and warned Pyongyang to be highly vigilant about Washington's promises.
"As regards US behaviour, approach and its intentions, we are highly sceptical and look at its actions with utter pessimism," foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told reporters in Tehran.
"For the time being we cannot be optimistic about the United States' behaviour, and the government of North Korea must approach this issue with absolute vigilance," he added.
Ghasemi said US President Donald Trump's actions in abandoning the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and other international agreements, had shown he was an unreliable partner.
"We would like peace, stability and security to be established in the Korean Peninsula," he said, but added that experience in dealing with the US and Trump had left it with "much pessimism".
Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Singapore on Sunday for an unprecedented summit, with the US demanding complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation.
It comes just over a month after the US president pulled out of the landmark nuclear deal with Iran and other world powers that put strict restrictions on the Islamic republic's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
The strong personalities of US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have drawn some 3,000 international journalists for their first-ever historic meeting to be held here on Tuesday.
It is the largest journalist gathering ever seen in an Asian event, surpassing the April summit between the two Koreas.
"The two leaders are very interesting personalities and speak out what they like, which makes it very good for television coverage," said Peter Wang from Taiwan's Eastern Broadcasting Co Ltd.
"The two leaders make it very interesting for TV news," he said at the International Media Centre hosting some 3,000 journalists from around the world. The successful conclusion of on Tuesday's summit will be good for the Pacific Region and could play a key role in defusing tensions between the two Koreas as well as between the US and North Korea, Wang said.
Kim has taken on a "soft image" and wants the US-imposed sanctions lifted with economic development support in exchange for denuclearisation, said Oliver Hotham, managing editor of the Seoul-headquartered N K News.
Kim has changed his hard and tough stance, he added.
Trump, on the other hand, is looking for political and diplomatic victories from the summit by reaching out a peace pact with the North Koreans, he said.
