Iran’s Basij Force opposes direct talks with US

“How many times should the wise Leader of the Revolution warn officials against baseless trust in the Americans?! Didn’t he say that raising the subject of negotiations with the United States is either foolish or treacherous?” Basij said in the letter.

It noted that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei believes that negotiations with the United States are not the solution to the country’s problems and will not benefit the country no matter which Iranian diplomats negotiate with the U.S.
“The experience of the last eight years is before us,” the letter stated.

“Have you seen any positive action on the part of the Americans that you send a signal for negotiation?! Neither in action nor even in expression, have you noticed a change that you speak of negotiating with the killers of martyr Haj Qasem Soleimani ?!” the Basij Volunteer Force said in its letter.

Recently, the top Iranian diplomat dismissed reports of direct talks between the United States and Iran in the Austrian capital where Tehran and the P4+1 are trying to find a way to revive the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

“However, if we get to a stage where reaching a good deal with strong guarantees necessitates direct talks with the U.S., we will consider it,” Amir Abdollahian added.

The two sides have held eight rounds of talks over the past year. Iran refuses to sit down directly with American diplomats, meaning negotiators from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia must shuttle between Iranian and American diplomats.

Iran insists that America must remove all sanctions imposed on Tehran after former U.S. president Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned the deal in May 2018 in violation of American commitments. It also says Washington must provide guarantees that it will not leave the deal again.