Iranian Speaker: Entering Talks with US A Strategic Mistake
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani dismissed the idea of fresh negotiations with the US as a strategic mistake, saying talks with a government that has set 12 preconditions for Iran would be meaningless.
In comments at an international conference in Tehran on Monday, Larijani said it would be naive to contemplate holding talks with the US in the current situation.
Negotiations with Americans would not make sense, since they have set 12 preconditions for Iran and have urged a halt to uranium enrichment activities in Iran, the speaker said.
“I believe proposing the idea of negotiating with the US is a strategic mistake, because the time is not right for such a measure,” Larijani said, adding that US President Donald Trump must realize what country Washington is up against.
Some 12 years of negotiations and disputes resulted in the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, but a “peculiar creature” withdrew from the deal, the speaker deplored, stressing that the Trump administration is used to withdrawing from international accords every now and then.
In comments in August 2018, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei roundly dismissed the idea of negotiations with the US, saying dialogue with a bullying regime that uses talks as a tool for pursuing its hostile policies is forbidden and would be detrimental to Iran.
Pointing to the US government’s strategy for negotiations, the Leader said Iran can enter the “dangerous game” of negotiations with the US only when it achieves the desired might in the economic, political and cultural spheres and resist Washington’s strategy of propaganda campaign and pressures.
