The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said today that the recent US proposal for a deal on Tehran's nuclear program does not include the lifting of economic sanctions against Iran, Agence France-Presse reported, citing Iranian state media quoted by BTA.
Qalibaf said this at a time when nuclear talks, which began in April with the mediation of Oman between the two countries - long-time enemies - are at a standstill.
"The fact that the US plan does not even mention the lifting of sanctions clearly shows that the US behavior /.../ is contradictory and dishonest," the parliament speaker noted in a video broadcast by the state-run television.
"No normal logic can accept such a unilateral and imposed agreement," he stressed, and said that the US president must "change his approach if he really wants an agreement".
Last week, Iran announced that it had received "elements" of the US proposal for an agreement after five rounds of talks.
Tehran is demanding the lifting of sanctions that have stifled its economy in exchange for guarantees that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. However, the US and its Western allies have long accused the Islamic Republic of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons - something it has always denied.
The talks are now stalled over the issue of uranium enrichment. Washington wants Iran to give up enrichment, but Tehran refuses, asserting its right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to which it is a party.
US President Donald Trump, who has renewed his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran since returning to the White House in January, has repeatedly said that Iran would not be allowed to enrich uranium under a potential deal.
Iran "will not ask anyone for permission to continue enriching uranium," Iran's chief negotiator and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday. He said the US proposal contained "numerous ambiguities".
On Wednesday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described the US proposal as "100% contradictory" Iran's desire for independence and self-sufficiency.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran is the only country in the world that does not possess nuclear weapons, but it is enriching uranium to 60%, which is approaching the 90% threshold needed to create an atomic bomb.
At the end of the month, the IAEA board of governors is expected to meet in Vienna to discuss Iran's nuclear activities.