Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that Tehran’s negotiations with the US were off to a good start but warned they might not go anywhere, stressing his lack of trust in the US.
According to Iran’s PressTV, Khamenei said the negotiations held in Oman over the weekend were “implemented well in their initial steps” but added that Tehran is “very skeptical” of the US side.
“The negotiations may or may not yield results. We are neither too optimistic nor too pessimistic about them. Of course, we are very skeptical of the other party, but confident in our own capabilities,” he said.
Khamenei said that Iran would continue to work to offset the impact of sanctions. “The removal of the sanctions is not in our hands, but neutralizing them is; there are many ways and [there is] great domestic capacity to do that. If this objective is achieved, the country will become impervious to sanctions,” he said.
While he offered a mixed reaction, Khamenei’s comments made clear that he supports the government of Masoud Pezeshkian to continue the negotiations, which were mostly held indirectly, although Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Steve Witkoff spoke to each other briefly.
Another round of negotiations is set to be held this Saturday. Some reports say they will be held in Rome, while Iran insists they will be held again in Oman.
President Trump has continued to threaten military action if a deal isn’t reached on Iran’s nuclear program even though US intelligence agencies recently said in their annual threat assessment that there’s no evidence that Tehran is building a nuclear bomb or that Khamenei has reversed his 2003 fatwah that banned the production of weapons of mass destruction.
Russia and China at work:
Trump is driven by vengeance and wrath. How dare they say I didn't win in 2020! Both he and Netanyahu know that the jig is up. To hell with the US economy. To hell with the new world order. The Samson Option is coming right up.
"This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal." ~US airmen Aaron Bushnell, in his last moments
They know that Donald Trump has no moral compass, is a fraud and a belligerent bully. He is not a peace maker. His actions in Yemen and threats against Iran are proof of that. Iran would be foolish to relenquish their nuclear processing capability just to get relief from sanctions.
It’s a pretext to relax their guard or to claim they wouldn’t negotiate in good faith, which for the US and Israel, means total and absolute capitulation.
Cynical and….. Probably accurate!….
US and EU did delay the sanctions relief under 2015 JCPOA…! They would do it again under any potential new deal…!
He knows that Iran doesn't need a deal. There is no "dealing" with the Zionist West. He is basically allowing the negotiations because the idiots in the reformist-led government still believe they can work out a "deal" with the West. Khamenei and the IRGC (the latter functioning as a kind of deep state) know that any kind of a "deal" is impossible, because the Zionist West is hell bent on destroying Iran by whatever means necessary.
Trump is not getting the "deal" he wants, but I don't think he's going to get the apocalyptic war he wants to wage against Iran either. A Zionist war against Iran would only work in Iran's favor and accelerate the demise of US and Zionist hegemony in West Asia, which is already doomed. I wouldn't be surprised if we see the child killing regime of "Israel" fully collapse before 2030 and forced to end its genocidal apartheid.
Witkoff might as well stay in DC and save a trip to the next round of talks with the attitude change demanding extras from Iran…! He would come back empty handed…!