An Iranian parliamentarian says the US lawmakersâ„¢ letter to the White House calling for diplomacy vis-Ã -vis Iran was a Å“positive step,” urging Washington to drop its hostility against Tehran.
Å“We regard the move by the US Congress members as a positive step but believe that more steps should be taken so that the US could win the trust of the Iranian nation,” spokesman for the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Seyyed Hossein Naqavi-Hosseini said on Monday.
Iran cannot consider negotiations with the US as long as Washington refuses to rethink its hostile policies against the Iranian nation and instead take Å“hundreds” of other positive steps, he added.
More than a hundred US lawmakers have called on the White House to opt for diplomatic channels on Iran following the victory of Hassan Rohani in Iranâ„¢s June 14 presidential election.
The request was made this week through a letter co-authored by Charlie Dent and David Price and signed by 131 lawmakers at the US House of Representatives, the Washington Post reported on Friday.
On Sunday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei expressed skepticism about talks with the United States, saying he was not opposed to talks with Washington on certain issues.
Å“…I am not optimistic about negotiation with the US although I have not rejected negotiations over certain issues such as Iraq in the past years,” the Leader stated, adding, the US officials are unreliable and dishonest.
Former US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said in an article published by The Times Record on July 19 that Tehran and Washington may hold their first direct negotiations in 34 years in the second half of 2013.
SF/KA
Republished with permission from: Press TV