Iran’s supreme leader Sunday said the current issues between Washington and Tehran are “unsolvable’’ — warning his country will never bow to the US over their nuclear standoff.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei defended freezing the nations’ nuke talks after America’s involvement in Israel’s 12-day war in June against Iran’s atomic program, with the leader suggesting that all negotiations are now off the table.
“They want Iran to be obedient to America,” Khamenei said in a public statement through state media. “The Iranian nation will stand with all of its power against those who have such erroneous expectations.”
Khamenei also defended the use of anti-American slogans around Iran and even inside the nation’s parliament — where lawmakers shouted “Death to America!” after the war — as the harsh reality of US-Iranian relations.
“People who ask us not to issue slogans against the US… to have direct negotiations with the US, only see appearances. … This issue is unsolvable,” he said.
Direct diplomacy with Iran collapsed in June when the US and Israel launched joint airstrikes against Tehran’s nuclear facilities, which were allegedly being used to develop atomic weapons.
Iran has long rejected its goes’ claims, with Tehran since stepping away from nonproliferation talks with the US and expelling the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog group from the country.
Tehran has since faced mounting pressure to let the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) back into Iran to investigate the fallout of the war and locate the nearly 900 pounds of enriched uranium that went missing during the conflict.
Despite Khamenei’s vow to remain defiant against the West, Tehran is allegedly open to discussing nonproliferation with the UK in a bid to avoid sanctions from the UN, the Telegraph reported.
Britain, France and Germany have all warned that unless Tehran re-engages with the IAEA, they are prepared to reinstate heavy sanctions against Iran through the UN’s so-called snapback mechanism by the end of August.
Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Khamenei and newly appointed secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, is reportedly pushing to have Iran’s enrichment program dialed back from the current 60% to 20%.
–With Post wires
