According to Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini, Iran has overcome the sanctions and is in no haste for an agreement.
He says the US should now know it will get no concessions from Iran by delay tactics.
“It is the western side that should make its mind. The Islamic Republic of Iran will sure give no concessions and is seeking an agreement that secures its interests,” the lawmaker told Hamshahri Newspaper.
Abbaszadeh says Tehran wants to avoid a repetition of the problems that arose after the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015.
“The western side is not showing goodwill in this regard. We believe their hesitation is aimed at getting more concessions from us. The ball is now in the US’s court. I think if they are serious in getting an agreement, this would be possible even in a few hours,” he says.
“For us, the main issue is that of guarantees. Seeing that the western sides go back on their commitments and do not fulfill their pledges, we should have the guarantees. Neither the US, nor any other western country should arbitrarily neglect its obligations and dodge them, again.”
“We have paid a heavy price. We have managed our economy without taking the result of the negotiations into consideration… and we are trying to break the links in the chain of sanctions one by one,” he says.
The lawmaker also suggested that a breakthrough in the talks with Saudi Arabia could positively affect the nuclear talks.
“In politics, subjects are more or less interconnected and affect each other. The Islamic Republic of Iran has always welcomed expansion and promotion of ties with key and influential countries in the region, such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey.” he says.
“We had five or six rounds of talks with Saudi Arabia …We hope, with their goodwill and seriousness, we can have normal relations with neighboring countries, especially Saudi Arabia.”
Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini also talked about the foreign minister’s comments that Iran and the US are exchanging messages through the European coordinator of the Vianna talks.
He said the outcome is not reported to media because Iran is not at the point where there is an agreement, but any breakthrough will be made public as soon as it is achieved.
