Negotiations with the United States could succeed if approached strategically, said the former senior advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and current head of Iran's Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences.
"Indirect negotiation can be a path to success and is not inherently a sham," Mohammad Javad Larijani told Farhikhtegan conservative daily on Saturday.
He cautioned Iranian officials against projecting weakness, arguing that desperation, not criticism, undermines Tehran’s position. "It is the logic of desperation that weakens us, not legitimate criticism," he said.
Larijani criticized past nuclear talks for yielding too much without ensuring verifiable steps from Washington and said that negotiating without verifying promises would risk Iran becoming, in his words, "America's dairy cow."
