On March 16, some 260 members of Iran’s parliament released a statement outlining their conditions for a nuclear deal with the world’s six major powers —Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. The top demand was the “removal of all sanctions at once.” During a press conference, Parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani (left) declared support for Iran's negotiating team on behalf of the legislature. He also said a deal could be brokered if the other side “avoids excessive demands.” The following is an excerpted translation of the statement read in parliament as reported by the Iranian Students News Agency with Larijani’s remarks.
While emphasizing the previous statements and decisions of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, especially the one that requires the government to stick to the nuclear achievements of the nation, we, members of this assembly, urge the nuclear negotiators to bravely and wholeheartedly shield the dignity of the Iranian nation – which has a very important position in regional and global equations – against American tricks and acquisitiveness.
The nuclear negotiators are expected to take account of the following as the absolute rights of the nation:
1. Removal of sanctions all at once and termination of Iran’s nuclear case at the UN Security Council should be a precondition for the implementation of a comprehensive nuclear deal.
2. Holding on to the nuclear achievements and fully restoring the nuclear rights of the nation under Article 4 of the NPT is what the Iranians unanimously want.
3. In case the other party fails to live up to any of its commitments, the deal should be scrapped and enrichment should be resumed at any level the country needs.
In light of the expression of concern by the Supreme Leader, confronting the US tricks which come in different shapes and forms undoubtedly requires more vigilance on the part of Iranian negotiators.
Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani
“I’m not pessimistic [about the outcome of the talks] and said earlier that an agreement is certainly possible.”
A deal can be brokered if “the other side avoids excessive demands.”
“I’m not pessimistic [about the outcome of the talks] and said earlier that an agreement is certainly possible.”
A deal can be brokered if “the other side avoids excessive demands.”
“Our nuclear issue is different from our relations with the regional states which have their basis in another logic.”
Iran’s capability will always be “at the service of the regional countries to support them.”
“We are now living without such a comprehensive agreement and if an agreement is not reached, we will go after other solutions.”
"We will supervise the negotiations' dynamism with a supportive approach.”
“[W]e hope that the negotiations will make progress within the same frameworks [as outlined by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei].”
“Parliament and the government are following the same path.”
“We are together and there is coordination and consultation between government and the parliament... and all are under the supervision of the leader.”
“What the U.S. Congress did was really amateurish. Even their political experts denounced them because they undermined their own integrity. We are not going to copy their mistake.”
“The possible nuclear agreement would not face any problem in Iran in this regard [referring to the open letter by 47 U.S. lawmakers saying a deal might not last beyond President Obama’s tenure], Tehran does not have problems like those of the U.S.”
Photo credit: Harald Dettenborn [CC BY 3.0 de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons
