Over two hundred lawmakers signed a statement on Sunday urging the nuclear negotiators not to allow the United States to use the recently passed bill by the US Senate on a final nuclear deal with Iran to increase its bargaining power in nuclear talks.
The US Senate voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to pass a bill giving Congress the right to review, and potentially reject, an international agreement with Iran aimed at resolving the long-running dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.
The legislation, the western media say, would give the US lawmakers a final say before the administration cancels economic sanctions on Iran.
The parliamentarians in their statement called on the negotiating team to "give a proper response" to the vote and consider it seriously in the course of negotiations.
The statement said given the fact that the talks have now entered a "critical stage", the behavior of the six global powers known as the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) "especially that of the US government" needs to be precisely assessed.
Deceptive Approach
The lawmakers said the recently approved legislation by the US Senate is an example of US "excessive demands (hidden) behind democratic gestures."
"Such kind of behavior cannot be given any name but deception and will result in nothing but distrust," they noted.
Requesting the foreign ministry to submit the details of the outcome of the negotiations to the Majlis for review as instructed by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the lawmakers said the negotiations need to ensure that inspections of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be carried out "only within the framework of international norms and rules."
Employing threats in diplomatic talks are "a sign of panic," the lawmakers stressed, calling on the negotiators as representatives of the nation to show the US lawmakers that the realm of negotiations is no place for such "clumsy moves."
Referring to US interventionist actions in the region such as the military occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq as well as provoking the crises in Syria and Yemen which led to the killing of innocent people and the increase in extremism and terrorism, the lawmakers asked the foreign ministry to submit a report in this regard to parliament along with the nuclear accord.
