A member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said some parties to negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program are under a delusion that heightened pressure on Iran will force it to make additional concessions on a final deal.
“We want and welcome a good deal,” Ahmad Shouhani said, adding, “But it will not be acceptable if (some members of) the P5+1 (the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany) intensify pressure to wring more concessions out of Iran in these last days of negotiations.”
Iran and major powers set themselves an end-June deadline to conclude the deal, but they have now decided to extend it for a few days.
“It will be unacceptable that (they) raise new issues to place us under further pressure and disregard the rights of our nation,” Shouhani told ICANA on Monday.
The other side needs the deal more than Iran does, he said, stressing that the negotiating team will definitely continue to insist on the redlines and this is the message the nation and officials are trying to communicate to the other side.
The lawmaker addressed the powers engaged in the talks, saying, “Do not think that the impact of sanctions has made us too eager for the accord….We are after an agreement that respects our red lines.”
He said such a tactic to make extra demands is aimed at striking a harder bargain and called on the western side to honor its obligations.
“They think by this method, they can increase their bargaining power and their expectations at the last moments…. If you want the work to proceed smoothly, you must adhere to the commitments you made at previous stages of the talks.”
The two sides reached an agreement on the framework of the prospective pact in early April in the Swiss city of Lausanne, which would lift sanctions in exchange for Iran accepting temporary constraints on its nuclear work.
Unreasonable Expectation
Elsewhere, Lawmaker Mohammad Hassan Asafari said it is unreasonable of the western side to expect Iran to take every confidence building measure before they take action to remove sanctions with the UN’s verification that Tehran has met all its commitments.
“We stress that sanctions must be terminated on the same day the accord is signed because we do not trust the westerners,” he said in an interview with ICANA on Tuesday, suggesting, “The (real) removal of sanctions can be carried out step by step,” to build trust between the two sides.
“That is to say, every step Iran takes to implement its commitments should be reciprocated with a step by the other side to lift sanctions,” he said, noting that the “complete” termination of sanctions must be stated in the deal.
“If, for example, Iran takes action to meet its commitments related to Arak heavy water reactor, the Security Council’s sanctions should be lifted, and if we address our commitments regarding Fordo (nuclear site), the United Nations should remove its sanctions,” he illustrated.
