TEHRAN -- “Today, the atmosphere surrounding the nuclear issue has improved comparing to a few months ago and the holding of negotiations should be assessed as positive,” Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel said on Wednesday.

“Iran has always welcomed negotiations,” Haddad-Adel told reporters at a press conference. “We have always emphasized that we want negotiations.” “Intimidating and imposing sanctions against Iran are not new subjects; what is new is the opening of the door for negotiations,” he responded in a reference to efforts by the U.S. and Britain to introduce new sanctions against Iran at the UN Security Council as Tehran refuses to halt its nuclear enrichment program. Asked about the possibility of war against Iran, he said, threats of military action against Iran are in fact a part of “psychological warfare and a means of inducing fear in regional countries.” He said such threats have lost their credibility. However, he added it is possible that those countries which have created troubles for themselves and the people in the region commit another mistake, but it seems unlikely. PA END MN