The Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ affiliated group known as Basiji expressed opposition to direct talks with the United States in a letter sent to Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian.
“How many times should the wise Leader of the Revolution warn officials against baseless trust in the Americans?! Didn’t he say that raising the subject of negotiations with the United States is either foolish or treacherous?” Basij said in the letter.
The group has also noted that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ali Khamenei believes that negotiations with the United States are not the solution to the country’s problems and will not benefit Iran, no matter which Iranian diplomats negotiate with the US.
“The experience of the last eight years is before us,” the letter stated.
“Have you seen any positive action on the part of the Americans that you send a signal for negotiation?! Neither in action nor even in expression, have you noticed a change that you speak of negotiating with the killers of martyr Haj Qasem Soleimani ?!” the Basij Volunteer Force said in its letter, referring to the Iranian commander who died in a US drone attack in 2019 at Baghdad airport.
The two sides have held eight rounds of talks over the past year. Iran refuses to sit down directly with American diplomats, meaning negotiators from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia must shuttle between Iranian and American diplomats.
Earlier, Abdollahian didn’t completely rule out the possibility of direct talk between Iran and the US.
“If we get to a stage where reaching a good deal with strong guarantees necessitates direct talks with the US, we will consider it,” he said.
