“Once the United States exhibits a confidence-building and realistic behavior, the Islamic Republic of Iran will take a proper decision concerning talks with the US,” member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Esmail Kosari said on Friday.
He underlined that Washington should reduce the sanctions it has currently imposed against Tehran.
“Therefore, no decision can be made about negotiations with the United States unless such a change of behavior is displayed by Americans,” Kosari added.
Addressing his first press conference in Tehran on August 6, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the Islamic Republic is closely monitoring all measures taken by the US and will respond properly to Washington’s “practical and constructive” moves.
“What is important for us is the US administration’s practical response and not statements,” he said.
The United States, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program and have used the unfounded accusation as a pretext to impose illegal sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
