08.02.2005, 13:41
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Zitat:' I can improve relations with US' : Rafsanjani
LONDON, Feb 8 (IranMania) - Head of Iran's State Expediency Council, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has called on the United States to make a gesture of goodwill toward Iran.
"We want good relations with the American people," the top cleric said in an exclusive interview published Monday in leading US daily USA Today.
"There has to be a dialogue between the governments, but what can one do when your government has always wronged us? We need to see evidence that this process will be reversed."
The former Iranian president said he had not decided whether to run for the upcoming presidential elections, but will announce a candidacy in two to three months.
Rafsanjani, 70, described himself as someone who can improve relations with the United States.
"I'm not the only one but I am one of them," he said.
But the charismatic cleric insisted Washington had to take the first step, by freeing at least $8 bln in Iranian assets frozen in the United States, or some other gesture of goodwill.
"The first step has to be from the US part. They have to show positive signs for us so we can believe they are sincere," he said.
Rafsanjani added US lawmakers would be welcome to visit Iran. "They can come. We have no objection," he said.
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