Pompeo and Mnuchin (R) take questions during a briefing at the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, in Washington.

:: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump could meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the upcoming United Nations meeting, with “no preconditions.”

Pompeo made the comments at a press briefing to unveil new sanctions on groups including Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“Now the president has made clear, he is happy to take a meeting with no preconditions, but we are maintaining the maximum pressure campaign,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said at the press briefing along with Pompeo, just days after Iran said it had fired up centrifuges to boost its enriched uranium stockpiles.

Tensions have been escalating between Iran and the United States since May last year when Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran and began reimposing sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy.