Former Nuclear Chief Says US Should Acknowledge Iran As A World Power

Iran's former nuclear chief Fereydoun Abbasi who is a hardliner member of parliament says it is not in Iran's interest to enter direct negotiations with US.

Abbasi’s comment comes as several lawmakers have lately supported the idea of holding direct talks with the United States,

Abbasi said in an interview with Asr Iran website, "holding direct talks with America is not in our interest as long as the United States has not acknowledged that Iran is a world power."

Critics mocked Abbasi for this statement on social media. Iranian Twitter user Mohammad Hossein Karimipour wrote in response: "A country whose military budget is less than 0.5% of the rest of the world and has no air force and a seaworthy naval force fit for the oceans, and a country that cannot have financial transactions with the world, cannot be a world power. This boastful gang suffering from delusions has taken the nation hostage!"

Other critics charged that true nature of individuals such as Abbasi will be revealed only if the Russian embassy in Tehran is seized, and secrets come out. This comment implicitly referred to the seizure of the US embassy in 1979 and documents discovered.

Another critic said "These individuals benefit from Iran’s current situation. They benefit from the lack of transparency and plunder taking place in the country."

Abbasi harshly criticizing the previous government said, "While the former nuclear negotiating team led by Foreign Minister Javad Zarif believed that I am an uneducated person, the current lead negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani usually comes to the parliament and speaks with me as an expert on the nuclear issue."

Abbasi also claimed that "in order to be able to get results in the nuclear negotiations, we first need to liberate the Golan heights at the Syrian-Israeli border."

Abbasi also claimed that the current negotiations in Vienna between Iran and world powers are not about the nuclear issue. All the negotiations have been already done and their outcome is the nuclear deal called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), he said. He added that Iran's previous government failed to have the sanctions lifted although it had promised that with JCPOA economic restrictions would be removed.

"The current negotiations are about lifting the sanctions. There is no discussion about the nuclear issue. The dossier of the nuclear talks has been closed and the other side should now fulfil their commitments under the nuclear deal," Abbasi said, adding that "No other matter including discussions about the region, our exit from the region or the issue of Iran's missile programs can be discussed as part of the Vienna negotiations."

Abbasi reiterated that Iran will enter direct talks with the United States only after Washington “treats us in the same way it deals with Russia and China,” but if Washington wants to talk with Iran from a position of power without acknowledging it as a world power, it will not be in our interest to talk with the US.

Asked if an agreement made in Vienna needs to be ratified by the Majles (parliament), Abbasi said the legislature has already approved the JCPOA. The current negotiations are not over a new agreement.

Abbasi's statement about Iran respecting its commitments under the nuclear deal is contrary to facts on the ground that indicate Iran has more centrifuges than allowed by the JCPOA and has boosted Uranium enrichment far beyond the level allowed by the nuclear deal.

Abbasi also insisted that the JCPOA's opponents have not changed their mind. This comes while some hardliner members of the parliament, particularly at the National Security and Foreign Relations Committee have recently expressed support for direct talks with the United States.

Peyman Shahbaz, a Twitter user said Abbasi was overwhelmed by his own delusion and added jokingly that "Let him be a world power for two minutes!"