Tehran, May 24 (IANS) Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian have said that his country seeks to safeguard national interests and remains highly cautious in negotiations with the United States.
During a meeting with visiting Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir, Pezeshkian cited Washington’s repeated breach of commitments, attacks on Iran amid talks, and targeted killings of its officials as the basis for widespread public mistrust, according to a presidency statement on Saturday (local time).
Under such circumstances, Iran has pursued negotiations relying on its “brotherly relations” with friendly countries, “but our main goal is to solely safeguard the Iranian nation’s interests through appropriate solutions,” Pezeshkian said.
“We merely seek to safeguard our people’s legal and legitimate rights, but our history and experience of negotiating with the United States urge us to exercise utmost caution,” he said.
War has never been in anyone’s interest and will only bring losses to the region and the world, he added.
Munir, who arrived in Tehran Friday night, reaffirmed in the meeting his commitment to regional stability, welcomed the progress made in the negotiations, and voiced hope that they would yield favourable results for Iran and regional states, reports Xinhua news agency.
Separately, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported Saturday that if Washington does not show flexibility, peace talks with Tehran will be doomed to failure.
Iran insists on not discussing its nuclear program at this stage, releasing its frozen assets prior to negotiations, and continuing its control and management over the Strait of Hormuz, Fars reported, citing an informed source close to the Iranian negotiating team.
No negotiation will take place if the three remaining serious issues of disagreement are not resolved, it reported.
Iran, the United States and Israel reached a ceasefire on April 8 after 40 days of fighting that started with US and Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.
Following the truce, Iranian and US delegations held one round of peace talks in Pakistan’s Islamabad on April 11 and 12, which failed to yield an agreement.
Over the past weeks, the two sides have reportedly exchanged several proposed plans outlining conditions for ending the conflict.
