Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Iranian lawmakers say the country remains skeptical about the US intentions about direct talks with this country and cannot trust Washington's calls for direct negotiations.

"They have always lied about this issue and therefore have been never considered trustworthy by our country," Iranian parliament member Mousalreza Servati said on Sunday, Press TV reported.

"When Americans persist in their hostilities and do not miss any opportunity to deal a blow on us in economic, political and international arenas, speaking of ties with Iran is nothing but deception," he argued.

The Iranian legislator criticized the US for its attempts to derail Iran's nuclear energy program over the past years.

Iran voluntarily suspended the implementation of its nuclear program in the past years as a good-will gesture, but the Western states refused to fulfill their commitments, he explained.

"As long as the US refuses to change its behavior and policy, our position on this issue remains unchanged," he added.

Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Iranian Parliament Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy Seyyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini has warned that the US policies regarding Iran are sprinkled with deception, saying Washington's offer to hold direct talks with Tehran is just a "propaganda gesture".

"Over the past months, Americans have adopted a propaganda gesture in the international scene and from time to time one of the US officials speaks about direct talks with Iran," he said.

On February 22, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the US was willing "to meet bilaterally with the Iranian side," repeating an offer Vice President Joe Biden had made earlier at the 49th annual Munich Security Conference in Germany on February 2.

Only four days after Biden's offer of talks, the US Treasury Department announced new sanctions to prevent Iran from gaining access to earnings garnered from its crude exports.

Hosseini added that US officials pursue nothing but deceit because they have made no practical changes in their attitude towards Iran.

The US mounts pressure and sanctions against Iran but expresses readiness to negotiate with Iran, the legislator said.

Also, the Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast last week ruled out direct talks between Tehran and Washington in the absence of a real change of policy on the part of the United States.

"As long as the US refuses to change its behavior towards Iran, mere offer of negotiations without practical guarantees or accompanied with threats or any act of animosity against our nation is meaningless," he stressed.

Besides, on March 21, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei alluded to the US repeated offers of direct talks with Iran and saying he is not optimistic about these talks.

"I am not opposed to talks with regard to the nuclear issue, but certain issues must be clarified," Ayatollah Khamenei said.

A day after the Khamenei's remarks, US Secretary of State John F. Kerry expressed Washington's 'strong' commitment to settle its differences with Iran.

"Despite the difficult history of the last decades between the United States and Iran, there is an opportunity to work diplomatically to reduce tensions and address the mistrust between our two countries, to the mutual benefit of both of our people," Kerry said in a statement.

On the other hand, US Senate has sent a strong message to the European Union (EU) on Iran, unanimously passing an amendment supporting efforts to block Iran's access to its foreign exchange reserves and limit the ability of designated Iranian entities like the Central Bank of Iran to conduct transactions in euros.

The amendment to the Budget Resolution, sponsored by Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), follows a bipartisan letter sent last month by 36 senators to the EU urging the Council to take immediate action to cut off Iran's access to the euro, the official website of Senator Mark Kirk (http://www.kirk.senate.gov) reports.

The Iranian government maintains bank accounts around the world filled with foreign exchange reserves, the majority of which are held in euros. Reports indicate that Iran uses its euro reserves to circumvent the total impact of American and European sanctions by converting its foreign-held euros into local currencies in order to finance imports and stabilize the country's budget.

"Closing the euro loophole in our sanctions policy is critical in our efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability," Sen. Kirk said. "The U.S. Senate has spoken and now the European Union needs to act."

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with United States and EU using this pretext to impose several rounds of illegal unilateral sanctions against Tehran.

Tehran refutes the allegation, maintaining that as a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.