US should build trust to restore ties with Iran

Iranian Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli-Larijani said the Americans should win Iranians' trust in order to restore the relations between Iran and the United States, Tehran Times daily reported Thursday. The United States cut diplomatic relations with Iran in 1980 after a group of Iranian students captured some 60 U.S. diplomats in 1979 and 52 of them were held in captivity for 444 days. The resumption of "relations with the United States is not easy, and after all these pressure, such relations are not possible overnight," Amoli-Larijani said, in reference to Iran's moves to restore ties with the United States in the past months. Attempts are recently underway by some Iranian expatriates and politicians to restore relations with Washington in order to alleviate the pressures on the country's economy, which has been hit significantly by the Western sanctions over the country's controversial nuclear program. "The Americans should not think that they can blackmail our nation through coming to the negotiation table with Iran," he said, adding that "thinking of blackmailing Iran is a complete mistake, and our nation has proved that it has stood firm to realize the sublime ideals of the (Islamic) revolution." The negotiations will bear results when the United States manages to win the Iranian nation's trust, he said. Commenting on U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election, the Iranian official said that four years ago Obama came to the office with the slogan of change, but in practice the strictest sanctions were imposed on Iran, so it is natural that the Iranian people will never forget the U.S. "hostile actions." On Wednesday, the secretary of Iran's Human Rights Council, Mohammad-Javad Larijani, said pressures would not be able to push Tehran towards talks with the United States. Any negotiations with the United States should "serve Iran's interests," he said, expressing "scepticism" about the seriousness of U.S. officials in the talks with Iran.