Iran ready for talks if US lifts bans

Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Tehran is prepared to start negotiations over its nuclear energy program if the US lifts illegal sanctions against the country.
In an interview with ABC’s “This Week” program on Sunday, Zarif said, “Iran is prepared to start negotiating…. We are willing to engage in negotiations. Of course the United States also needs to do certain things very rapidly”.
He stated, “One is to dismantle its illegal sanctions against Iran that are targeting ordinary Iranians”.
The Iranian foreign minister added that the resolution of Iran’s nuclear issue “will be a first step, a necessary first step, towards removing the tensions and doubts and misgivings that the two sides have had about each other for the last 30-some years.”
He added that Tehran and Washington have similarities in many ways, adding, both “have pluralistic societies where difference of views exists and difference of views are aired. And I think it’s very healthy.”
the Iranian minister reiterated, “We believe that, if the United States is ready to recognize Iran’s rights, to respect Iran’s rights and move from that perspective, then we have a real chance and we negotiate with the full authority of the Leader [of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei]”.
He expressed regret that there is lack of mutual confidence between Iran and the US and said as declared by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and his US counterpart, Barack Obama, there has been 34 years of building up of this mutual distrust
Zarif, who is also serving as Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, reiterated that Iran’s nuclear program will always remain peaceful.