Leader Terms US “Not Trustworthy”
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that he is not optimistic about negotiations with the United States since the US officials are illogical.
Addressing a group of Iranian officials here in Tehran on Sunday evening, Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the recent remarks made by US officials on negotiation with Iran, and said he has on many occasions stressed that he is not optimistic about negotiations with the US.
“The Americans are not trustworthy, they are illogical, and they are not frank in their interactions,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.
Ayatollah Khamenei further blasted the US hostile policy towards the Islamic republic, and added, “The stands adopted by US officials during the recent few months, too, once again confirmed the necessity of being pessimist about them.”
The remarks by the Leader came after the US Congress has postponed sending its annual sanctions legislation on Iran to the White House reportedly over certain considerations after the election of Hassan Rouhani as Iran’s next president.
Analysts say that if the legislation, which is aimed at escalating the sanctions against Iran, is even ready this year, it will not be considered until October at the earliest.
The Congress’ decision to delay discussing its sanctions legislation against Iran comes as Tehran and the six world powers are laying the groundwork to hold their next round of comprehensive negotiations.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) have held several rounds of talks on a range of issues, with the main focus being on Iran’s nuclear energy program.
The two sides wrapped up their latest round of negotiations on April 6 in the Kazakh city of Almaty. An earlier meeting had been held in Almaty on February 26-27.
