An Iranian parliamentarian says the US lawmakers\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 letter to the White House calling for diplomacy vis-\u00c3\u00a0-vis Iran was a \u00c5\u201cpositive step,\u201d urging Washington to drop its hostility against Tehran.\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cWe 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,\u201d spokesman for the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Seyyed Hossein Naqavi-Hosseini said on Monday.\n<\/p>\n
Iran cannot consider negotiations with the US as long as Washington refuses to rethink its hostile policies against the Iranian nation and instead take \u00c5\u201chundreds\u201d of other positive steps, he added.\n<\/p>\n
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 Iran\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s June 14 presidential election.\n<\/p>\n
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<\/i> reported on Friday.\n<\/p>\n
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.\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201c\u2026I am not optimistic about negotiation with the US although I have not rejected negotiations over certain issues such as Iraq in the past years,\u201d the Leader stated, adding, the US officials are unreliable and dishonest.\n<\/p>\n
Former US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said in an article published by The Times Record<\/i> on July 19 that Tehran and Washington may hold their first direct negotiations in 34 years in the second half of 2013.\n<\/p>\n
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