Iran’s Khamenei Opens Door to Direct Talks With the US

Iran's new president wants to engage with the US to get sanctions lifted

On Tuesday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei opened the door to talks with the US, telling the new Iranian government there was “no harm” in engaging with the “enemy.”

Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, pledged during his campaign that he would work to get US and other Western sanctions lifted. He said he wanted direct engagement, as opposed to indirect talks the Biden administration has held with Tehran. Pezeshkian appeared to get Khamenei’s blessing to make the effort to negotiate.

“This does not mean that we cannot interact with the same enemy in certain situations. There is no harm in that, but do not place your hopes in them. Do not trust the enemy,” Khamenei told Pezeshkian, according to Khamenei’s official website.

Khamenei meeting with Iran’s new government (picture from Khamenei’s official website)

While Pezeshkian is willing to talk with the US, it’s unclear if he will have a willing partner. The Biden administration is not expected to make any changes to its policy toward Tehran before the November election, as the Democrats are running on a new platform of being tough on Iran.

The previous Trump administration was very hawkish toward Iran and tore up the 2015 nuclear deal by reimposing sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Former President Trump and his vice president pick, JD Vance, have made hawkish comments on Iran and have accused President Biden of abandoning Israel.

Khamenei’s comments came as the US is still expecting Iran to launch a retaliatory attack over the Israeli assassination of Hamas’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, on Iranian soil. The US is pledging to defend Israel as it did in April when Iran launched its first-ever attack on Israeli territory in response to the Israeli bombing of its consulate in Damascus.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.