US must earn Iran’s trust to escape current crisis, says Iran parliamentary speaker

Tehran: Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has said the only way for the United States to find an exit from the current standoff is to make its decision and rebuild trust with the Iranian people. Qalibaf made the remarks on his return to Tehran after leading a high level delegation in peace talks with Washington in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.

The speaker told reporters that the United States is “indebted” to the Iranian nation and must work hard to compensate it for past actions. Emphasising a confrontational stance only if provoked, he warned that Iran would respond with equal force, but also with logic if the US adopts a rational approach. “If they fight, we will fight; and if they come forth with logic, we will react with logic. We will not surrender to any threat,” Qalibaf said. “They can test our will once again and we will teach them a greater lesson.”

Qalibaf described the Islamabad negotiations as very “intensive, serious and challenging,” crediting Iran’s team with developing “excellent initiatives” that reflected goodwill and helped the talks make some progress. He insisted, however, that Iran has no trust in the US, linking the “wall of distrust” to 77 years of hostile relations and two recent American attacks even while negotiations were under way. “They are the ones who must earn our trust,” he stressed.

Downplaying recent threats by US President Donald Trump, Qalibaf asserted that such rhetoric has no impact on the Iranian people and that Washington’s leverage will remain limited without a genuine effort to restore confidence. The US and Iran held lengthy talks in Islamabad on Saturday and early Sunday, but the discussions ended without a deal, coming after a ceasefire announced earlier between Iran, the United States and Israel at the end of 40 days of fighting.

(Inputs from IANS)