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Iran has no objection to advancing negotiations with the United States if Washington proves it is sincere and follows the rules of diplomacy, a senior Iranian lawmaker said while warning that deep mistrust continues to block progress.
Ebrahim Azizi, chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told CNN that major obstacles remained over frozen Iranian assets and the nuclear issue despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s statements that an agreement could be reached soon.
Azizi said any possible agreement would depend on a change in U.S. behavior and on Washington demonstrating that it was genuinely prepared to negotiate.
“If we can be sure that they are willing to negotiate and that they will abide by the rules of negotiation, Iran will have no problem advancing the talks because it believes in the logic of negotiation and dialogue,” Azizi said.
He added that Washington had so far failed to earn Iran’s trust.
Azizi said he believed Trump had not acted honestly during talks intended to turn a temporary ceasefire into a lasting agreement that would end the war.
Despite that, he said Iran continued to regard negotiations as part of the broader confrontation.
“We have repeatedly said that we accept negotiations as a continuation of the battlefield,” Azizi said. “We see negotiations as part of the war.”
Addressing unresolved points in the process, Azizi said Tehran had not seen a serious desire from the U.S. to reach an agreement capable of implementing such a framework.
He said progress would require clear evidence that Washington was prepared to change its conduct and honor the terms of any agreement.
Azizi said the U.S. had agreed before the negotiations to release Iran’s frozen assets, but Tehran had not seen any willingness from Washington to carry out that commitment.
He said the current round of negotiations did not include issues related to Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump has said an agreement could be reached soon, but Azizi said the disputes over frozen assets and nuclear matters remained unresolved.
Asked whether a final peace agreement between Iran and the U.S. was possible, Azizi said the answer would depend on the behavior Tehran observed from the other side.
“If this behavior continues, no,” he said. “We have no trust in them at all.”
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