Lawmakers Opposed to Talks With US

New Iranian lawmakers maintain that holding talks with the United States that has already violated its previous commitments under the multinational 2015 nuclear deal is unwise and will have no gain for the country. 
They reiterated the parliament’s opposition to any talks with Washington after US President Donald Trump cited a prisoner swap with Iran as a sign that "a deal with Iran is possible".  
"Negotiations with the US will have no benefit for our country, so the 11th Majlis is opposed to talks with the US," Hosseinali Haji-Deligani, a member of Majlis Presiding Board, told ICANA. 
After exiting the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in 2018, Trump reimposed sweeping sanctions on Tehran in the hope that his so-called maximum pressure campaign would bring Iranian leaders to the negotiating table once again for a new and more comprehensive deal. 
Iran has refused to engage in any bilateral talks, declaring that any negotiation would only be possible within the framework of the previous agreement and after all sanctions are removed. 
Last week, Iran freed a US navy veteran from jail in Iran in return for an Iranian-American detained in the US. 
Trump interpreted the exchange as a deal, calling on Iran to make the "Big" deal before the upcoming US elections in November. 
"There definitely was no negotiation in that sense and it was a mere prisoner swap between the two countries which does not change anything about previous American behavior," Haji-Deligani said. 
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also said in response that Iran had already reached an agreement with world powers before Trump took office and it is up to the US to return to it. 
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said Trump is trying to present false success stories since he is in a disastrous situation. 
"The exchange of prisoners is not the result of negotiations & no talks will happen in future," he said in a tweet. 

Absolute Loss 

Abbas Goudarzi, another lawmaker, said negotiation with the US would be "either negligence or stupidity and treason". 
"Negotiation with the US will have no blessing for the [Iranian] nation and will bring absolute loss. America has already been put to the test and it is wrong to test what has been already tested," he said. 
Washington, according to him, is seeking to restrict Iran and prevent its progress and development. 
"Which wise man would enter talks with the US, the result of which is clear from the beginning and there is no win-win scenario and nothing but complete loss." 
Goudarzi noted that the new parliament's strategy about the US would involve resistance, because Iran has attained great achievements by resisting the American hegemony and incurred losses whenever it compromised with it. 
Nezameddin Mousavi, a member of the parliament, described Trump's remarks as hypocritical as he pretends to be in favor of dialogue while placing severe sanctions on Iran and constantly intensifying them. 
"Negotiation is forbidden in the view of all of us and if one wants to move toward talks with a regime that has brutally breached all its commitments, his wisdom should be questioned," he said. 
The new Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf had also stressed in the opening ceremony of Majlis that the new legislature is opposed to any negotiation or compromise with the United States and deems it "futile and harmful". 
"The 11th Majlis supports expansion of relations with the global community, but maintains that relying on governments that have a dark record, both during their own history and during the period of the Islamic Republic, is a strategic mistake."