Senior Iranian official Ebrahim Azizi says Tehran has “no problem” continuing peace talks with the United States in principle, but only if Washington proves it is negotiating honestly.
Azizi, who heads Iran’s parliamentary national security and foreign policy committee, told CNN that any deal depends on a change in US behaviour after months of deep mistrust.
“If we could reach confidence that they are people of negotiation and that they also submit to the rules of negotiation, then the Islamic Republic, because it has the logic of negotiation, because it has the logic of dialogue, would have no problem with negotiating,” he said.
But Azizi said Tehran does not believe US President Donald Trump is being truthful in talks aimed at turning a temporary ceasefire into a lasting agreement.
“But we have said many times that we accepted negotiation as a continuation of the battlefield. We consider negotiation to be part of the battle,” he said.
Azizi said Tehran sees no serious US will to release frozen Iranian assets or reach a workable framework.
“If these same behaviors continue, then no,” he said. “We do not have any trust at all.”
