TEHRAN: Scepticism was rife in Iran on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump offered talks, with one lawmaker saying negotiations would be a “humiliation”.

The country’s top leaders did not give an immediate response to Trump’s statement a day earlier that he would meet them “any time” without preconditions.

But several public figures said it was impossible to imagine negotiations with Washington after it tore up the 2015 nuclear deal in May.

“With the contemptuous statements [Trump] addressed to Iran, the idea of negotiating is inconceivable. It would be a humiliation,” said Ali Motahari, deputy speaker of parliament, according to the conservative Fars News. “America is not trustworthy. After it arrogantly and unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear agreement, how can it be trusted?” added Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, according to Fars.

The US is set to start reimposing full sanctions on Iran from Aug 6 — a move that has already contributed to a major currency crisis with the rial losing two-thirds of its value in six months.

Only last week, Trump fired off an all-caps tirade at his counterpart Hassan Rouhani on Twitter, warning of untold “suffering” if Iran continued to threaten the US. Many in Iran are therefore suspicious of his latest volte-face.

“We cannot negotiate with someone who violates international commitments, threatens to destroy countries, and constantly changes his position,” said analyst Mohammad Marandi, of the University of Tehran, who was part of the nuclear negotiating team.

Some officials remained more receptive.

“Negotiations with the United States must not be a taboo,” said Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, head of parliament’s foreign affairs commission, in an interview with the semi-official ISNA news agency.

“Trump understands that he does not have the capacity to wage war with Iran, but due to historic mistrust, diplomatic ties have been destroyed,” said Falahatpisheh, adding that this left no choice but to work towards reducing tensions.

Motahari added that hardliners, who have long opposed any rapprochement with the US, share the blame for the collapse of the nuclear deal.

“If the whole Iranian system had worked to implement this agreement, today we would be witnessing the presence of European companies in Iran and their investments, and even Trump would not be able to withdraw so easily from the deal,” he said. “But from the start one part of the system did not want the agreement to work.”

Foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi on Monday said “there is no possibility for talks”, ahead of Trump’s statement. “Washington reveals its untrustworthy nature day by day,” Ghasemi said, according to the conservative-aligned Mehr news agency.

The Trump administration says its “maximum pressure campaign” is designed to force Iran into a new deal that goes beyond limiting its nuclear programme and includes curbs to its regional behaviour and missile programme.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2018