Iranian parliamentarians' criticism of the draft Vienna negotiations escalated with head of the Article 90 committee that oversees the implementation of parliament's decisions warning against a “bad deal.”
“We will only accept a good deal,” said hardline MP Hassan Shojaee, adding that “not reaching a deal is better than accepting a bad deal.”
“A good agreement is one that preserves national dignity and secures economic interests,” he explained.
“Given the conditions of the world and the previous commitments of Iran and the possibility of achieving economic benefit for the country, the regime is determined to reach a good agreement.”
He slammed the previous Iranian government for being Western-oriented and blamed it for striking a deal with the US.
“The previous administration considered reaching any agreement better than not reaching an agreement, and this caused great losses to the country,” said Shojaee.
Shojaee’s remarks came after a number of his colleagues had harshly criticized Iran’s diplomatic corps and called for the expulsion of members of the nuclear negotiations team who maintained their position in the team's lineup after the change of government last August.
“We must be careful not to send a message of weakness and a need for the agreement, as America certainly needs it more than Iran,” stressed Shojaee, warning that the message of “weakness will make good agreement out of reach.”
For his part, Fada Hossein Maleki, a member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said: “As far as I know, no agreement has been reached between Iran and the West so that a draft would be prepared.”
The legislator continued by saying that the Iranian negotiating team has presented proposals to the Western side in the new round of negotiations.
Maleki also noted: “To date, the Foreign Ministry has not submitted a draft of the Vienna agreement to the parliament because no agreement has been reached.”
