Tehran poised to negotiate but ‘not at any cost’
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran has frequently announced that it seeks negotiations to resolve dispute over its nuclear program but not “at any cost.”
Addressing a meeting of intellectuals in Tehran Province on Thursday, the Iranian president said that, “It is not acceptable to impose sanctions and say that you should have no missiles or weapons, and then talk about negotiations again.”
Pezeshkian underlined that negotiations must be conducted with dignity.
“If they come with dignity, we will negotiate, but we will not yield to coercion ... from the beginning, we have declared that we seek dialogue and negotiation, but not at any cost,” the Iranian president said.
Iranian and American presidents have repeatedly expressed their countries’ readiness for new negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program in recent months. But the US president’s bullying language has made it difficult to start negotiations. Iranian officials say the negotiations under pressure are not reasonable.
Since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his eagerness for talks with Iran to strike a deal on Tehran’s nuclear program.
At the same time, he has reinstated his so-called “maximum pressure” policy and has threatened military action against Iran.
“He thinks that if he comes and threatens us, we will back down tomorrow and say, ‘Alright, we accept whatever you say.’ We are human beings with dignity. If they come with dignity, we will have a dialogue, but we are not going to yield to coercion,” Pezeshkian said, referring to his American counterpart.
On February 7, Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said experience has shown that negotiations with the US have no effect on solving Iran’s problems.
During his first term in office, Trump pulled Washington out of the UNSC-endorsed Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 and imposed severe economic sanctions against Tehran while Iran was adhering to its commitments under the deal and even continued to do so for a year after the US withdrawal. Trump’s move in 2018 left the future of the nuclear deal in limbo.