More on Iran
The Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, made what appeared to be an unequivocal move.
Speaking to Air Force commanders in his leadership compound, the 85-year-old ruler rejected American overtures for nuclear talks with language that left little room for interpretation.
Negotiations with the U.S., he declared, would be neither “smart, wise, nor honorable,” citing past experiences.
“We must understand this correctly - they should not pretend that if we sit down at the negotiating table with that government, problems will be solved,” Khamenei said during a meeting with army commanders.
“No problem will be solved by negotiating with America.
“In the 2010s, we negotiated with the U.S., and an agreement was formed. The same person now in office in the U.S. tore up the agreement. Even before him, those with whom the agreement was reached didn’t carry it out. The agreement was supposed to lift sanctions, but they weren’t lifted.”
Just days earlier, President Donald Trump had extended an olive branch of sorts. While renewing his “maximum pressure” sanctions on Iran, Trump expressed reluctance about the move and offered a straightforward deal: Iran would simply need to guarantee that it wouldn’t pursue nuclear weapons.
Inside Iran, this proposal initially found receptive ears. Both Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Masoud Pezeshkian publicly suggested that such guarantees would be “easy” to provide.
Khamenei’s comments last week hinted at a potential diplomatic breakthrough after years of increasing tensions.
He said, “We must be careful about who we’re dealing with and who we’re negotiating and talking with.”
These statements were interpreted within Iran as an initial indication of permission for negotiations with America. However, the 85-year-old leader of the Islamic Republic has now explicitly rejected the possibility of negotiations with the new U.S. administration.
His statements were a direct response to Trump’s recent invitation. On Tuesday, while signing an order to revive the “maximum pressure policy” on the Islamic Republic, Trump stated that he signed it with hesitation and announced his willingness to negotiate - with just one demand: that Iran enter into an agreement guaranteeing it would not possess nuclear weapons.
Both Abbas Araghchi, the Foreign Minister, and subsequently Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s President, had said that guaranteeing the absence of nuclear weapons would be easy and that an agreement could be reached with the United States.
However, Khamenei quickly shut down such expressions of hope and publicly called negotiations with the Trump administration on this matter “ineffective.”
He not only refused to respond similarly to Trump’s invitation to negotiate, but he also added a threatening tone to his speech, saying, “The U.S. gives opinions about us and issues threats. If they threaten us, we will threaten them. If the U.S. carries out their threat, we will carry out our threat. If the U.S. disrupts the security of our nation, we will definitely disrupt their security as well.”
Although Khamenei’s public statements about the Islamic Republic’s general policies are extremely important in preparing public opinion and aligning different parts of the government with his plans, the content of his speeches does not necessarily reflect all the behind-the-scenes realities under his supervision.
In the early 2010s, while he was delivering some of his harshest speeches against the Barack Obama administration, Islamic Republic Foreign Ministry deputies were simultaneously engaged in secret negotiations with their American counterparts in Oman - without the Supreme National Security Council’s knowledge.
These extensive secret negotiations in Oman later led to an unprecedented 22-month-long public negotiation between the foreign ministers of both countries. At one point, it included Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization at the time, and ultimately resulted in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which lifted international nuclear sanctions against Iran.
During the negotiations, Khamenei repeatedly stated publicly that negotiations with America would not succeed. When they did succeed contrary to his prediction, he quickly labeled the JCPOA an agreement for American “infiltration” into Iran and stated that the Islamic Republic would spend the money freed by this agreement however it wanted, including financially and militarily supporting IRGC proxy militant groups in the region.
Khamenei’s rejection of negotiations with America, made on the eve of the 46th anniversary of the February 1979 revolution, is significant in shaping the Islamic Republic’s public policies. It makes the path to a potential secret agreement with the United States more difficult in the long term, but it does not create an absolute barrier.
It is possible that Islamic Republic officials, including Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations, may have a secret and covert mission in this regard.
Even if such an intention exists behind the scenes, Khamenei’s statements on Friday indicate the continuation of the country’s current fragile and erosive situation.
Iran’s financial and livelihood crises are increasing public anger and further weakening the government’s legitimacy.
The Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, made what appeared to be an unequivocal move.Speaking to Air Force commanders in h ...
iranwire.com
