Iran’s
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today warned against further negotiations
with the United States. Such talks are “forbidden,” Khamenei told an audience
of IRGC commanders in Tehran.
“An
important part of the activities of the enemy is to change the calculations of
officials and to manipulate people’s revolutionary and religious thoughts,”
Khamenei said. “Young people are the main target, and they must be alert.” (The
New York Times, 7 October)
Khamenei said
that “careless or some simple-minded people who do not understand the facts”
are the cause of Iran’s “problems.” In his coded language and in what was
probably intended as a threat against his domestic opponents, Khamenei added,
“And the enemy helps those people” (presumably those advocating relations with
the United States).
On the
nuclear agreement, Khamenei said the opposing parties (the West) had made
“damaging moves against Iran’s national interests” in the talks. He did not
elaborate, nor did he say that his veiled criticism of Iranian negotiating team
meant he was now against the deal. As Times’
Thomas Erdbrink reports from Tehran, Khamenei is widely seen as the final arbitrator
of the nuclear agreement.
File photo: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (AP)
File photo: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (AP)
This man has no respect for the majority view point. Arrogant beyond belief.
ReplyDeleteHe's the one who ok'ed the whole thing. So not sure what you're talking about. This rhetoric is just for the "homeboys", the domestic constituency. In Iranian politics, you gotta differentiate when politicians actually mean what they say or are just posturing
ReplyDeleteFrom now on, none of the elected government officials, including Zarif and Rohani, dare to enter into any form of negotiation with US. The conservative opposition will use his word as a weapon to attack them into oblivion by impeaching them out of power if Khamanei chooses to take a neutral position in public. This man is not a force for good but a force that would bring misery for ordinary Iranians.
DeleteI find it interesting how most commentators are quick to criticize and demonize Khamenei for everything that's wrong with the country. However, no one gives the man his due for the country's achievements, however mediocre they may be. It is quite clear to every Iran political observer that this nuclear deal, in fact even the negotiation for the deal, would never have happened without his blessing. He even publicly protected Rouhani/Zarif from some of the more zealous homeboys in the majles. Hardly the behaviour of a hardline extremist Islamist zealot. The man is much more pragmatic, intellectually subtle and calculating than most people give him credit for.
DeleteThe man who OK'ed two and half years of talks...
ReplyDeleteGo away and let us be.
ReplyDeletethe dictator has spoken
ReplyDelete