Washington Has To Take Tens Of Other Steps To Resume Ties: Iran MP

Tehran, July 22, IRNA – A senior lawmaker, Hossein Naqavi Hosseini said on Sunday that the letter by 130 US congressmen to President Obama calling for direct talks with Iran is a positive step, but, Washington has to take tens of other steps to resume relations with Tehran. The rapporteur of Iranian parliamentˈs National Security and Foreign Policy Commission told IRNA that the commission will consider different aspects of the gesture from the US Congress. An earlier letter by a number of US congressmen calling for intensifying sanctions on Iran was also studied by the commission, he said. He criticized the US for exerting different kinds of pressures on Iran over the past 34 years and encouraging former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to invade Iran in 1980. 130 US congressmen signed a letter to the White House Friday urging the US government to grasp the opportunity of the election of Hassan Rouhani as Iranian new president and offer direct talks with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Although the number of signatories is well below half of the total of 435 members of the lower house of the American legislature, the letter is unusual as Congress has consistently been at the forefront of pushing for more and harsher US sanctions on Iran. For instance, in 2010, 366 members of the House of Representatives wrote to president Obama, branding the existing sanctions inadequate and urging more stringent measures be imposed on Iran over the national nuclear program./end