TEHRAN - A prominent Iranian conservative deputy has said the Islamic republic "cannot ignore" the United States' potential role in nuclear negotiations, but said Washington needed to go further in building trust.
"If the US is interested in multilateral cooperation with Iran along with the Europeans and the IAEA on the nuclear issue and other regional and international affairs, it could be reviewed," said Mahmoud Mohammadi, deputy head of Iran's parliamentary foreign affairs and national security commission.
"One cannot ignore the role of the United States in the Iran-EU nuclear negotiations. The US is present in the negotiations and it exerts its threats and pressures through the Europeans," he told the state news agency IRNA.
Mohammadi, a former foreign ministry spokesman and senior diplomat, was speaking after Washington announced it would help efforts by Britain, France and Germany to persuade Iran to abandon uranium enrichment by offering certain incentives.
They include dropping objections to Iran joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and considering allowing the country access to spare parts for its decrepit fleet of civilian aircraft.
The comments also come in contrast to the harsh tone set by foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi, who snubbed the offer and asserted Iran was determined to press on with its "peaceful" nuclear programme -- seen by the US as a cover for weapons development.
But Mohammadi, seen as a pragmatic conservative, admitted that for Iran it remained "difficult" to trust the Americans, with whom diplomatic relations have been cut for 25 years.
"If the US is interested in being present in the negotiations it should say so," he said, adding that "trust-building is two sided".
Sharing US concerns, the so-called EU-3 of Britain, France and Germany have been trying to secure a permanent halt of enrichment as an "objective guarantee" that Iran will not acquire the bomb.
In exchange they are offering a package of trade, security, diplomatic and technology incentives, a diplomatic effort that the United States had been reluctant to join.
But Iran has so far refused to drop its enrichment plans, and insists its suspension of the process is only temporary.
03/12/2005 13:41 GMT