Hashmatollah Falahatpisheh in an interview with the website of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations referred to the statement of the US Treasury Department Secretary Steven Mnuchin that the French proposal of offering Iran about $15 billion in credit lines to buy Iranian oil requires US approval and that Washington did not support the offer yet. He said: “The truth is that Europe does not have the power to implement its proposals about the Islamic Republic of Iran. Regarding their latest offer to Iran they have first checked with the Americans to see if it complies with the policies of the US Treasury Department.”

He added: “I don’t think we should be optimistic about these proposals. From the beginning, the United States has adopted a unilateral policy aimed at exerting maximum pressure on the Islamic Republic and has sought to bring Iran to the negotiation table. Of course, Washington has practically failed so far but only its superpower pride has made it not to admit the defeat.”

Referring to statements made by European officials on negotiations with the aim of preserving the JCPOA, this member of the Majlis National Security Committee noted: “There is no reason to be optimistic about the plans the Europeans are announcing for the Islamic Republic of Iran. If the European plan had been put forward as an independent proposal, we could have discussed it independently, but the truth is that it has to be verified by the US Treasury and is not an independent plan and will not be effective.”

He also said: “The time is not right for negotiations and Mr. Trump has lost the chance to negotiate with Iran. When Mr. Obama came to power, in his first New Persian Year message, said he was seeking to negotiate with Iran to resolve disputes. On the contrary, when Mr. Trump became president, he spoke about containing Iran. So, Mr. Trump in the very first year lost the opportunity for negotiations, clarified his strategy and ruined the little quasi-trust that had been formed between Tehran and Washington. They (Americans) are now entering their election year and the Islamic Republic of Iran will not enter into a different atmosphere even in the name of negotiations.”

“There is only one way: Americans suspend the 915 cases of sanctions that have been gradually restored since Trump’s inauguration; that is when we can say negotiations can take place and that too just within the JCPOA. That is why the Supreme Leader has made it clear that there will be no bilateral negotiations with Washington.

He added: “I believe even if the Americans return to the JCPOA the Iranians would look at the issue with suspicion because the Americans may sit at the negotiation table to apply clauses 11 to 13 of UNSC Resolution 2231. These are the clauses to which the term “two-stage trigger mechanism” should apply. In fact, the Americans may want to rejoin the JCPOA to ruin the deal, so I believe the negotiation atmosphere is severely weakened.