‘West must lift sanctions for Iran to take the next step’

Iranian parliamentarian says threats and pressure undermine West’s message of solving nuclear issue through diplomatic channels

By Greg Tepper 22 May 2012, 12:36 am

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International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano, left, seen leaving his meeting with Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili on Monday. (photo credit: Adel Pazzyar/IRNA/AP)

According to an Iranian parliamentarian, the Islamic Republic will only be ready to “take the next step” with the West once sanctions have been weakened and lifted, Iran’s official English-language Press TV reported Monday.

Seyyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, member of parliament and the Iranian National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said that “sanctions, threats and international pressure” are inconsistent with the “West’s message [of] resolving the Iranian nuclear energy issue through diplomatic channels.”

Hosseini insisted that the P5+1 nations, which will negotiate with Iran in Baghdad on Wednesday, “prove their good will in the first step by limiting [anti-Iran] sanctions and by lifting some of them.”

The report then cited a Majlis official news agency report quoting Hosseini as saying that only after the West does so will Iran be “be ready to take the next step.”

Regarding discussions between IAEA chief and Yukiya Amano, Hosseini said, “Amano’s presence in Iran will certainly lead to a common understanding of Iran’s nuclear activities.”