Iran's supreme leader criticizes proposed nuclear talks with US

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — 

Iran's ultimate person said Friday that negotiations with America “are not intelligent, omniscient oregon honorable” aft U.S. President Donald Trump floated the thought of atomic talks with Tehran.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei besides suggested that “there should beryllium nary negotiations with specified a government” but stopped abbreviated of issuing a nonstop bid not to prosecute with Washington.

Khamenei's remarks upend months of signals from Tehran to the United States that it wanted to negociate implicit its rapidly advancing atomic programme successful speech for the lifting of crushing economical sanctions worthy billions of dollars.

What happens adjacent remains unclear, peculiarly arsenic reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian promised arsenic precocious arsenic Thursday to participate a dialog with the West.

Khamenei’s remarks to aerial unit officers successful Tehran appeared to contradict his ain earlier remarks successful August that opened the doorway to talks.

However, the 85-year-old Khamenei has ever been cautious with remarks astir negotiating with the West. That includes balancing the demands of reformists wrong the state who privation the talks against hard-line elements wrong Iran’s theocracy, including the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Khamenei noted that Trump unilaterally withdrew from the earlier atomic woody nether which Iran drastically constricted its enrichment of uranium and wide stockpile of the material, successful speech for crushing sanctions being removed.

“The Americans did not uphold their extremity of the deal,” Khamenei said. “The precise idiosyncratic who is successful bureau contiguous tore up the agreement. He said helium would, and helium did.”

He added: "This is an acquisition we indispensable larn from. We negotiated, we gave concessions, we compromised — but we did not execute the results we aimed for. And contempt each its flaws, the different broadside yet violated and destroyed the agreement.”

Mixed messages from Trump

It's not wide what sparked Khamenei's remarks. However, they travel aft Trump suggested helium wanted to woody with Tehran, adjacent portion signing an enforcement bid to reimpose his “maximum pressure" attack to Iran connected Tuesday.

“I’m going to motion it, but hopefully we’re not going to person to usage it precise much,” helium said from the Oval Office. “We volition spot whether oregon not we tin put oregon enactment retired a woody with Iran.

“We don’t privation to beryllium pugnacious connected Iran. We don’t privation to beryllium pugnacious connected anybody,” Trump said. “But they conscionable can’t person a atomic bomb.”

Trump followed with different online connection connected Wednesday, saying: “Reports that the United States, moving successful conjunction with Israel, is going to stroke Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED.

“I would overmuch similar a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which volition fto Iran peacefully turn and prosper,” helium wrote connected Truth Social. “We should commencement moving connected it immediately, and person a large Middle East Celebration erstwhile it is signed and completed.”

He did not elaborate.

Nuclear enrichment

Khamenei, similar different Iranian leaders, uses elliptical comments to indirectly govern argumentation portion not boxing himself into immoderate 1 decision. As ultimate leader, he's besides created a immense bureaucracy that competes with itself for influence, including with its civilian enactment nether Pezeshkian.

As precocious arsenic Thursday, Pezeshkian suggested Iran could unfastened itself up to adjacent much inspections from the United Nations' atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“They [can] travel and inspect 1 100 times much since we are not expected to spell after” a atomic weapon, Pezeshkian told overseas diplomats.

Iranian diplomats person agelong pointed to Khamenei’s preachings arsenic a binding fatwa, oregon spiritual edict, that Iran won't physique an atomic bomb.

Iran has agelong insisted its atomic programme is for peaceful purposes. However, it present enriches uranium to 60% purity — a short, method measurement from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iranian officials progressively suggest Tehran could prosecute an atomic bomb. U.S. quality agencies measure that Iran has yet to statesman a weapons programme but has “undertaken activities that amended presumption it to nutrient a atomic device, if it chooses to bash so.”

Gaza and lipid sanctions

Earlier successful the week, Trump besides said that displaced Palestinians successful Gaza could beryllium permanently resettled extracurricular the war-torn territory and projected the U.S. instrumentality “ownership” successful redeveloping the country into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

Khamenei appeared to notation Trump's Gaza connection successful his remarks.

“The Americans sit, redrawing the representation of the satellite — but lone connected paper, arsenic it has nary ground successful reality," Khamenei said. “They marque statements astir us, explicit opinions and contented threats. If they endanger us, we volition endanger them successful return. If they enactment connected their threats, we volition enactment connected ours. If they interruption the information of our nation, we will, without a doubt, respond successful kind.”

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry separately criticized the U.S. Treasury's determination to levy sanctions Thursday against firms trading sanctioned Iranian crude lipid to China. The Treasury described the firms arsenic forming an “international web for facilitating the shipment of millions of barrels of Iranian crude lipid worthy hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei called the Treasury's determination “completely unjustified and contrary to planetary rules and regulations.”