Mojtaba Khamenei Distanced Himself From US-Iran Negotiation

The Supreme Leader of Iran Mojtaba Khamenei has distanced himself from the agreement with the United States, arguing that his negotiators can give very little in the way of concessions to what he refers to as “the enemy.”

In his first public comments on the deal, which were made public late Thursday,  Khamenei said he endorsed the agreement but rejected signing it on principle. Iranian economy would be greatly enhanced in this deal, which is expected to stop Iran from talking about its nuclear programme.

Khamenei said he approved the deal because President Masoud Pezeshkian accepted responsibility and committed to protecting Iranian rights as well as those of the “resistance front,” probably referring to Hezbollah, a militant group supported by Iran and involved in conflict with Israel.

He has clearly stated that if the American side makes unreasonable demands, he will not yield,” Khamenei said about  Pezeshkian.

He praised Iran’s diplomats but criticized President Trump, saying Trump agreed to the deal “out of desperation.”

That directly shifts responsibility for the agreement onto Iran’s elected government. The country operates under a hybrid political system in which elected officials hold much less power than its religious leadership, including the supreme leader.

By using the term “unreasonable demands,” Mr. Khamenei seems to limit his diplomats’ ability to negotiate concessions; but he did not specify what he considers “unreasonable.”

It is clear that future face-to-face negotiations do not signify acceptance of the enemy’s viewpoint,” he said.

Mojtaba Khamenei’s father and predecessor Ayatollah Ali Khamenei often took a similar stance. He allowed Iranian diplomats to engage in talks with the United States and other global powers about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and supported a 2015 agreement, but later criticized it and downplayed his involvement.

The comments on Thursday by Mojtaba Khamenei suggested that more agreements with the United States are probably not possible, Ali Afshari, a former Iranian activist living in the U.S., said on social media.

He also indicated that there would be no significant change in the regime’s confrontational foreign policy.

As soon as such an announcement was made, senior Iranian officials reacted positively and expressed their gratitude to Mr. Khamenei. A member of an influential advisory body said that any agreements must align with Mr. Khamenei’s “red lines.”

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of parliament who has participated in talks with the U.S., thanked Mojtaba and assured him about their negotiation strategy in state media early Friday morning.

Ghalibaf explained, “If our adversary pursues unreasonable demands along this path, we have already shown our readiness to respond decisively; a response whose severity they have already experienced during recent conflicts,” he said.

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