TEHRAN – Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has expressed pessimism about negotiations with the United States, saying the U.S. cannot be trusted.
“In the beginning of the current (Iranian calendar) year (which started on March 21), I said that I am not optimistic about negotiations with the United States, although I did not prohibit negotiations over certain issues such as Iraq. Americans are not trustworthy and are illogical, and are not honest in their dealings,” Ayatollah Khamenei said during a meeting with a number of government officials late on Sunday in reference to recent calls by U.S. politicians for direct negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
The remarks made by U.S. officials over the past few months show the need not to be optimistic about them, the Leader added.
Twenty-nine prominent former government officials, diplomats, military officers, and national security experts have recently called on the White House to pursue direct negotiations with Iran after Hassan Rohani is inaugurated as the new president.
In a letter to President Barack Obama on July 15, the National Iranian American Council called the election of Iran’s new president “a major potential opportunity to reinvigorate diplomatic efforts to resolve the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program.”
More than 100 members of the U.S. Congress have also given their support to a recent letter calling on President Barack Obama to reengage Iran diplomatically over its nuclear program following the election of the Islamic Republic’s next president.
Ayatollah Khamenei also said that Iran had always believed in interaction with the world, but the important point in this regard was to have a proper understanding of the other sides’ objectives and approaches, adding that the past policies of the enemies should not be forgotten even if they were ignored due to certain considerations.
“In interaction with the world, the art is that you can stay on your path and that the other side cannot hinder your movement, and if interaction with the world leads to a return, it will be harmful,” the Leader told the gathering of government officials in which President-elect Rohani was also present.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Leader praised the country’s impressive scientific advances and economic and cultural achievements since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, saying that the country’s progress was a clear sign of the country’s victorious movement over the past 34 years.
In addition, he said that the country’s officials and policymakers must focus their attention and efforts on the country’s two main priorities, which are economy and scientific progress.
