An Iranian lawmaker has warned against Israel’s efforts to isolate Iran, saying Tel Aviv is afraid of the normalization of ties between the Islamic Republic and the United States.

“Unfortunately, some US officials are backed by the Zionist regime’s lobbies and the Zionist regime has concentrated its efforts on preventing the reestablishment of Iran-US ties,” Mohammad Hassan Asafari, a member of Iran Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said on Tuesday.


He pointed to Israel’s efforts to isolate Iran by portraying Tehran as a global threat, noting, “This regime does not want Iran’s relations to grow with other countries, including the Western and Arab countries.”

Regarding the ongoing session of the UN General Assembly, Asafari said, “Since senior officials from more than 180 countries participate at the UN General Assembly session, the presence of the [Iranian] President [Hassan Rouhani] in this meeting is considered as an appropriate opportunity to defuse enemies’ plots.”

President Rouhani, who is currently in New York, has already said he has full authority to negotiate a deal with the West over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program.

The White House has expressed its readiness to enter into dialogue with Iran based on mutual respect.

According to a report by the New York Times on September 22, an Israeli official with knowledge of the content of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s UN speech said the Israeli premier intends to warn the world body that a diplomatic agreement with Iran to resolve the Western dispute over the country’s nuclear energy program “could be a trap.”

The United States, Israel and some of their allies falsely claim that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Tehran strongly rejects the claim against its civilian nuclear work, maintaining that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.