US must abandon hegemonic policies for talks with Iran

Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi

A senior Iranian commander has called into question the honesty of the US in offering to hold direct talks with Iran, urging Washington to stop its hegemonic policies before making such offers.

“We have no plans for negotiations with the US and as long as this country is considered as the global arrogance, we will not hold talks with it,” Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi told reporters on Wednesday.

“Whenever the US abandons the hegemonic system and respects the rights of the Iranian nation and recognizes the rights of regional nations, based on mutual respect, we will start negotiations,” he added.

The Iranian commander emphasized that signs of developments can be seen in the US society and noted that the Wall Street Movement forced powers to surrender and withdraw from their positions.

On February 22, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the US was willing “to meet bilaterally with the Iranian side,” repeating an offer Vice President Joe Biden had made earlier at the 49th annual Munich Security Conference in Germany on February 2.

Petrodollar pumping US policy on Iran

Only four days after Biden’s offer of talks, the US Treasury Department announced new sanctions to prevent Iran from gaining access to earnings garnered from its crude exports.

On February 7, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei slammed Washington’s dual approach, saying “You should know that pressure and negotiations do not go together, and the [Iranian] nation will not be intimidated by such things.”

On March 5, US Secretary of State John Kerry once again expressed Washington’s readiness to hold negotiations with Iran “the spirit of mutual respect, and a spirit of good faith in order to get this resolved peacefully.”

The illegal unilateral sanctions by the US and the European Union are based on the unsubstantiated allegation that Iran is covertly seeking to militarize its nuclear technology, a claim Iran has categorically rejected.

SF/HJL/MA