Tehran, YJC. Tavakoli says that melodramatic joy in recent talks between Iranian and US officials is against the interests of Iran, reducing Iranian officials’ bargaining power.
Senior
Lawmaker Ahmad Tavakoli in interview with Mehr said "The US has removed the
preconditions it used to lay for talks with Iran. In contrast to previous
years, US statesmen sat for negotiation calling for mutual respect.”
Pointing
to the state of affairs for the US in the ME, he said "Everywhere Americans had
to use Iran’s politically influential presence in order to get rid of the
crisis they were in. They came to understand that without Iran they cannot do
anything.”
"Cynicism
must be put aside, but in the meantime, optimism must be checked as well,”
Tavakoli said.
"Even
if the current US behavior is a short-time tactic we have won, because the
course will make the ones who would criticize the Iranian officials for not
making relations with the US understand that the way to solve the country’s
problems is not negotiations with the US,” Tavakoli asserted.
He pointed
out that unchecked excitement in recent developments in Iran-US relations will
have two negative effects. "The first effect is that if they think the country’s
problems are due to lack of relations with the US, we will give ourselves
positive marks on no basis and will overlook domestic mismanagements and
disorganized behavior. So if relations are established, since later on problems
would not have diminished, they will be depressed,” the lawmaker asserted.
"Also
unrealistic joy will be a bad message to the US, which will be to the detriment
of the Iranian nation. That will diminish the bargaining power of the
officials. So we must be careful in regard to the West and show such flexibility
as wise champions are likely to show,” he further said.