The Mehr News Agency talked to some MPs on Saturday to learn their views on the matter.
MP Hossein Afarideh of the Majlis Energy Committee said that the Russian proposal can be studied without any preconditions.
“But the Russian foreign minister’s remarks calling for Iran to permanently suspend uranium enrichment to participate in enrichment plans on Russian soil have no legal basis and are unacceptable,” Afarideh added.
MP Javad Jahangirzadeh, who sits on the foreign policy committee, was more critical of the Russians, saying that Iranians have bitter memories of relations with Russia over the past one hundred years.
“In the nuclear scenario which the West has written for Iran, Russia is playing the role of the good cop.
“This attitude of the Russians toward Iran threatens our independence and humiliates our people, and it shows that they do not know Iranians well,” Jahangirzadeh noted.
Small-scale enrichment
Afarideh, who is also a nuclear physicist, described International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed ElBaradei’s recent proposal for Iran to be allowed to conduct small-scale uranium enrichment work as a “step forward”, saying that negotiations on this proposal are not harmful.
But Hesmatollah Falahatpisheh of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee called ElBaradei’s proposal ambiguous and unreliable.
“At present, this proposal aims at killing time against Iran,” he said.
Western countries and Russia are not prepared to refer Iran’s nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council; therefore, they are trying to bring Iran back to the negotiating table by offering new proposals, he stated.
The Russian foreign minister’s remarks show that they are seeking to gain concessions from Iran and to stabilize their position, he noted.
“Russia does not seem to have good intentions and lacks sufficient strength in this matter, so we cannot entirely count on the country,” he said.
At this juncture, Iran should do its utmost to reach optimal capability in nuclear fuel production for civilian use in order to resist the West’s pressure, Falahatpisheh advised.
Majlis Unity and Efficiency Faction spokesman Reza Talaii-Nik said that Iran is now in one of the best national and international situations to resume uranium enrichment for peaceful purposes and to conduct negotiations without preconditions.
The U.S-backed Russian offer and the IAEA chief’s proposal show that the United States and Europe are concerned about the consequences of possible sanctions against Iran, he added.
Iran should conduct its nuclear negotiations with the West, while resuming its uranium enrichment activities, he said.
RS/HL/MS/HG
End
MNA
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