Dubai, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Iran's top leader on Friday said negotiations with the US “no intellectual, no wise or honorable” after President Donald Trump came to light on nuclear talks with Tehran. Ta.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also proposed that “there should not be any negotiations with such government,” but stopped issuing direct orders to prevent him from engaging in Washington.
Khamenei's remarks overshadow months of signalling from Tehran to the US that they want to negotiate a rapidly moving forward nuclear program in exchange for lifting billions of dollars in sanctions. Following Khamenei's comments, Iranian rial sank to a record low of 872,000 rials, reaching $1 in aftermarket trading.
What will happen next remains unknown, especially as reformist president Masuud Pezeschkian promised to have a dialogue with the West on Thursday.
Khamenei's comments about Tehran's air officers appear to contradict his own previous remarks in August, which opened the door for discussion. However, the 85-year-old Khamenei has always been careful about his comments about negotiations with the West. It involves balancing the demands of domestic reformers who want consultations over the hardline elements within Iran's theocracy, including the paramilitary revolutionary security forces.
Khamenei pointed out that Trump unilaterally withdraws from previous nuclear deals, which has significantly restricted uranium enrichment and overall stockpiling of materials, in exchange for the removal of sanctions.
“The Americans didn't support the end of the deal,” Khamenei said. “The very person in office today tore the contract apart. He said he would, and he did.”
He added: “This is an experience we have to learn. We negotiated, made concessions, compromised, but we didn't achieve the outcome we aimed for, and we also had all of that flaws. Despite this, the other side ultimately violated the agreement and destroyed it.”
Messages from both Iran and Trump
The reason for causing Khamenei's remarks is not clear. But they come after Trump suggested he wants to deal with Tehran, even while signing an executive order to reimpose a “maximum pressure” approach on Iran on Tuesday.
“I'm going to sign it, but hopefully we'll have to use it much,” he said from the oval office. “We will see if we can arrange or manipulate a deal with Iran.”
“We don't want to be tough on Iran. We don't want to be tough on anyone,” Trump added. “But they can't have a nuclear bomb.”
“They report that they are working with Israel to report that the US is trying to blow Iran to the blacksmiths,” Trump said in a separate online message on Wednesday.
“I would prefer a verified nuclear peace agreement that will allow Iran to grow and prosper peacefully,” he wrote about the true society. “We need to start working on it right away and have a big Middle Eastern celebration when signed and completed,” he didn't elaborate.
Nuclear enrichment raises concerns
Khamenei, like other Iranian leaders, uses oval comments to indirectly control policy, while not boxing himself to one decision. As the supreme leader, he also created a vast bureaucracy that competes with itself for influence, including civilian leaders under Pezeschkian.
Recently, on Thursday, Pezeshkian suggested that Iran could open more tests from the UN Nuclear Watchdog Agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“We're not going to chase, so they can come and test 100 times more than that,” Pezeschkian told the diplomat.
Iranian diplomats have long pointed to the binding fatwa that Iran would not build an atomic bomb, or Khamenei's sermon as a religious order.
Iran has long argued that the nuclear program is a peaceful purpose. However, it is currently concentrated to 60% purity. This is a short technical step from 90% weapon grade level. Iranian officials are increasingly suggesting that Tehran could pursue an atomic bomb. The US intelligence agency rated that Iran has not yet launched its weapons programme, but “if it chooses to do so, it is carrying out activities that are better positioned to produce nuclear weapons.” .
Iran calls sanctions against oil trading companies “unjust”
Earlier in the week, Trump also said Palestinians displaced by Gaza could permanently resettle outside of war-torn territory, with the US making the region a “Middle Eastern Riviera.” It proposed to take ownership of the company when redeveloping.
Khamenei appeared to refer to Trump's Gaza proposal in his remarks.
“Americans sit down and redraw maps of the world, but in reality they are drawn only on paper because they have no basis,” Khamenei said. “They make statements about us, express their opinions, and pose threats. If they threaten us, we threaten them in return. If they act on their threats, We act on ours. If they violate the safety of our country, we will definitely respond in kind.”
Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry separately criticized the US Treasury's move on Thursday to collect sanctions against companies that authorized Iran's crude oil to China. The Treasury Ministry explained that companies are forming “an international network to promote the delivery of millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Esmail Baghhai, a spokesman for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called the Treasury decision “completely unfair and contrary to international rules and regulations.”
