Azerbaijan, Baku, May 10 /Trend S.Isayev, T. Jafarov/
Some of the well-known political figures, who are candidates for the upcoming Iranian presidential elections, expressed their views towards the change in the Iran-US relations.
According to the Iranian media, the topic of relations between Iran-US, which were cut after the first year since the Iranian revolution, is among the most relevant ones during the current presidential pre-election time in the country.
Below are the opinions on the issue made by the candidates during the last 3-4 months, at various meetings and discussions, as reported by different Iranian media outlets.
MP, First Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Iran, Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabi Fard said that the normalization of relations with the U.S. is not the key question in Iran's foreign policy.
Aboutorabi Fard, who is the member of the 5-member conservative coalition at the presidential elections, said Iran needs foreign policy built on ethics, science-based dialogue, and national interests, adding that the country should be focusing on politics and improvement of economy.
Another member of the 5-member conservative coalition, Speaker of Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Reza Bahonar believes that Iran and the U.S. can have common interests.
"If the U.S. sees Iran as an independent country that wants to protect its interests, in that case we can have a relationship," he said. "Iran's perspective plan is to cooperate with all countries, except for Israel."
Head of the main inspection organization of Iran, Iran's presidential hopeful Mostafa Pourmohammadi in his turn has said that the talks with U.S. is not a "red-line" for Iran, adding that in Iran's foreign policy the most important thing is the interests of the nation.
"The U.S. is Iran's main enemy, however if it will restrain from making false statements, will accept Iran's possibilities and stop helping terrorist countries, then Iran can assess that, and that means the talks with U.S. is not a red line for us," he said. "Despite that some people in Iran believe that normalizing relations with the U.S. could be useful, it isn't so. If the U.S. could, it would've done something to stop the financial crisis in such countries as Greece, Italy, Spain and Cyprus."
Former speaker of Iran's parliament Gulamali Haddad-Adel said that Iran is not afraid of the possible talks with the United States.
"If the U.S. changes its behavior, then the negotiations will make sense. We are not afraid of the dialogue, if the U.S. really wants to hold one," he said.
Haddad-Adel also recalled the words of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said that in order to have negotiations with the U.S., it first needs to lower down its hostility, to show its willingness for talks.
Former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the secretary of the Expediency Council of Iran, Mohsen Rezaee - believes that if the U.S. can accept peace, then Iran's behavior can also change.
"The U.S. must accept humanitarian principles, peace, international security and indeependent countries. If it happens, then Iran can change its behavior, however right now we do not see any changes in this regard," he said.
Hassan Rouhani, an Iranian candidate close to reformists and member of Iran's Expediency Council, said that Iran will normalize its relations with the U.S., if the conditions are right, and then build these relations in accordance with country's national interests.
"Currently the relations between Iran and the U.S. are hostile. The U.S. is using every opportunity to put pressure on Iran and also encourage other countries to do the same. This is a wrong path, and we need to lessen such conflicts, to make them completely disappear in the future," he said.
Former commander of the Iranian police and current Mayor of Tehran, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said that Iran must have multi-vector directions in its foreign policy, which must be directed towards the national interests of Iran.
"Hostile relations with the U.S. by themselves are not worth it. We don't have a taboo on the dialogue with the United States, however this dialogue is not the solution for all the problems. When it's needed, we will hold talks with the United States," he said.
Former Foreign Minister of Ahmadinejad's government Manouchehr Mottaki believes that the Iran-US relations must not be an issue of political parties, and should be regarded as a national project.
"The issue of Iran-US relations is not something we cannot solve, however, one needs to prepare for such talks. As the Leader himself said, we will not be having severed ties with the U.S. forever, but appropriate conditions are needed," he said.
Ali Akbar Velayati, Supreme Leader's Advisor for International Affairs, said that he fully supports Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's point of view regarding the Iran-US relations.
"The word taboo should not be used regarding the Iran-US relations, however as the Leader said, relevant conditions should be created," Velayati noted.
Kamran Bagheri Lankarani, a former Minister of Health and Medical Education of Iran in his turn believes that at the current time, it is not preferrable to hold talks with the United States.
"Iran currently has sanctions imposed on it, there is an economic threat, and besides the presidential elections is an important event, the results of which will affect both the situation inside and outside of Iran," he said. "The U.S. currently wants to show that Iran is collapsing, and if we hold talks under such conditions, there will be no progress."