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Solve the following problem using Python, implementing the functions described below, one line at a time
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Description:
 def _prepare_if_args(stmt):
 """Removes parentheses from an "if" directive's arguments"""

    args = stmt['args']
    if args and args[0].startswith('(') and args[-1].endswith(')'):
        args[0] = args[0][1:].lstrip()
        args[-1] = args[-1][:-1].rstrip()
        start = int(not args[0])
        end = len(args) - int(not args[-1])
        args[:] = args[start:end]