Transcript of interview with Ahmadinejad adviser Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi

A transcript of an interview with Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, top aide to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Monday, Nov. 22, at the presidential building in Tehran. Samareh Hashemi, 52, is a foreign policy expert and a longtime confidant of Ahmadinejad.

NUCLEAR ISSUES

Q: How do you see the upcoming talks on Dec. 5 between Iran and the P5+1 [United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany]? Do you feel they can have any results?

A: In the name of God. There is a mutual point, and that is the readiness on both sides for negotiations. Of course, the Islamic Republic of Iran has always been ready for negotiations.

But the delay in the negotiations has been a good opportunity for the other side to realize the effects of its political decisions [made] through the Security Council and even the actions taken beyond the Security Council.

Q: Which decisions are you referring to exactly?

A: I mean the sanctions. Even if these negotiations had been delayed even longer, the results of their actions would only have become clearer for them. This does not mean that we prefer delay. However, the delay has been good for them.

Q: So you mean the sanctions have failed, and now the other parties are ready to talk?

A: I think I have answered your questions. I just hope that our counterparts in the negotiations, the Westerners, do not fool themselves.

Q: What are they fooling themselves with?

A: It is not a human value to continue to stress their mistakes. It is fitting that when one makes mistakes, one bravely admits those mistakes. Not paying attention to the rights of nations, to the rights of the Iranian nation, is a real mistake.

Q: Recently you mentioned a set of conditions for talks set by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Please remind us of those - and in what manner does Iran expect Western nations to respond to those conditions?