Iran’s supreme leader opens door to negotiations with United States over Tehran’s nuclear program

Iranians cross a road under a billboard bearing portraits of the late founder of the Islamic republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomieni (R) and the current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the capital Tehran (AFP)

• Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s remarks set clear red lines for any talks

DUBAI: Iran’s supreme leader opened the door Tuesday to renewed negotiations with the United States over his country’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, telling its civilian government there was “no barrier” to engaging with its “enemy.”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s remarks set clear red lines for any talks taking place under the government of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian and renewed his warnings that America wasn’t to be trusted.
But his comments mirror those around the time of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Tehran’s nuclear program greatly curtailed in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
“We do not have to pin our hope to the enemy. For our plans, we should not wait for approval by the enemies,” Khamenei said in a video broadcast by state television. “It is not contradictory to engage the same enemy in some places, there’s no barrier.”
Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, also warned Pezeshkian’s Cabinet, “Do not trust the enemy.”
Khamenei, 85, has occasionally urged talks or dismissed them with the US after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the deal.