Islam Times - US first has to stop wielding stick to negotiate with Iran

Islam Times - American writer and retired professor James Petras has said that the understanding in Iran is very clear that the United States first has to stop wielding the stick and then Tehran will think of sitting with Washington on a negotiating table.

Petras, who has several books on Middle Eastern political issues, made the remarks while commenting on a statement by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who said on Monday that the Islamic Republic will not enter into new negotiations with the United States due to cheating and bullying nature of the US government.

Speaking in a meeting with a large group of Iranian people in Tehran, Ayatollah Khamenei dismissed talks with the US after President Donald Trump called for direct negotiations with Tehran, saying Washington is only after concessions.

In a clear reference to Trump's withdrawal from a landmark nuclear deal with Iran, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Leader said, “Why should we sit for negotiations with a bullying [and] cheating regime, which negotiates like this?”

Petras said that “it’s very clear that the US has been trying the old carrot and stick policy of first punishing Iran with sanctions and then offering to negotiate which is not exactly the way that we understand negotiations which is first to provide some confidence measures that can open up the possibilities of a favorable, reciprocal relationship can be developed.”

“If you attack a country and try to strangle its economy, you have not established the kind of terms which suggest that you are really serious about negotiating a reciprocal settlement,” he stated.

“So I think Washington has destroyed the possibility of negotiations based on its violation of the earlier nuclear agreement. Its attempts to browbeat its partners, its pressure on China, Russia and the European Union do not augur well for any understanding with Iran,” the analyst noted.

“So I think the understanding in Iran is very clear that the US first has to stop wielding the stick and become an acceptable partner,” he concluded.