news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

【text/observer network yang rong】

"iran's supreme leader opens the door to negotiations with the u.s. on nuclear program," the associated press reported on august 27. when meeting with the new government cabinet that day, iran's supreme leader khamenei hinted that iran might resume negotiations with the united states on the implementation of the iran nuclear agreement, saying that there was "no harm" in the iranian government's contact with "enemies."

according to a speech released by the office of the supreme leader of iran, khamenei stressed to the new iranian president pezhichyan and his cabinet on the 27th the importance of not relying on "iran's enemies" or waiting for their approval. "of course, this does not mean that we cannot interact with the same enemy in certain circumstances, and there is no harm in doing so." he added, "but don't pin your hopes on them, don't trust the enemy."

foreign media such as the associated press and the new york times interpreted khamenei's latest statement as iran will seek to resume the implementation negotiations of the iran nuclear agreement that have been stalled for a long time due to the unilateral withdrawal of the united states, and draw red lines for the new government to do so. the reason is that khamenei's remarks are very similar to iran's previous remarks before and after it agreed to finally reach a comprehensive agreement on the iranian nuclear issue with all parties.

for example, in september 2013, when iran first started nuclear negotiations, khamenei said, "i am not opposed to taking appropriate political measures in diplomacy, and i believe in what was called 'heroic flexibility' many years ago." but khamenei was not optimistic about the talks at the time, and repeatedly warned against trusting the united states, saying, "if the negotiations are fruitful, it would be better, but if not, the country should rely on itself."

reformist president pezerhitsiyan, who was sworn in at the end of july, advocates easing tensions with the united states and the west and expanding new circles of friends. during his campaign, he said he would negotiate with western countries on nuclear issues to lift economic sanctions on iran's economy. he believes that lifting sanctions and foreign investment are essential for iran to achieve significant economic growth, and "no government in history has ever achieved growth and prosperity in a cage."

it is worth mentioning that iran's new foreign minister araghchi and vice president zarif were both deeply involved in the negotiations of the 2015 iran nuclear agreement. araghchi called for new consultations last week because many clauses have expired. "this document needs to be re-discussed and some parts need to be revised," araghchi said on the 23rd. "this is not an easy task." but he also emphasized that the premise for iran to do so is that the united states and european countries need to abandon their "hostile attitude" toward iran.

in the view of the associated press, khamenei's speech on the 27th may provide political guarantees for pezehiziyan to resume negotiations. it is generally believed that as the supreme leader of iran, khamenei has the final say in many matters of the iranian government.

last june, the us media broke the news that the us and iran had been secretly negotiating for months on limiting iran's nuclear program and releasing imprisoned us citizens, with the goal of reaching an "informal, unwritten" agreement. according to reports at the time, the conditions iran agreed to in order to reach an agreement included maintaining the current 60% enriched uranium enrichment level and not further increasing it. uranium enriched to more than 90% can be used to make nuclear weapons, and the us has set this enrichment level as a red line for "being forced to respond harshly."

recently, oman and qatar have been acting as mediators for informal communication between the united states and iran. in may this year, the iranian delegation to the united nations confirmed that iran and the united states held indirect talks in oman. just one day before khamenei made the above remarks, qatari prime minister and foreign minister mohammed visited iran.

it was unclear whether khamenei's message was more substantive than the recent secret talks between the two countries. when asked about khamenei's remarks, the us state department did not give a direct answer but said it would "judge iran's leadership by its actions, not its words."

at present, the us government is about to face a change of government. ray takeyh, a senior fellow for middle east affairs at the council on foreign relations, believes that this is essentially tehran "establishing parameters" for potential negotiations if democratic candidate harris wins the november election, because many people in the previous iranian government believed that they could not negotiate with the "unpredictable" trump. mehrzad boroujerdi, an expert on iran, reminded that khamenei's statement may not mean giving the green light to open and direct talks with the united states.

as the conflict in the gaza strip drags on, tensions between iran and israel continue to escalate, and relations between the united states and iran remain tense. on july 31, after the leader of the political bureau of the palestinian islamic resistance movement (hamas), haniyeh, was assassinated while attending the inauguration ceremony of the new iranian president in tehran, iran threatened to retaliate against israel. although full-scale retaliation has not yet arrived, concerns about a larger conflict in the middle east remain, adding uncertainty to the prospects for negotiations on the iranian nuclear issue.

according to the 2015 iran nuclear deal, iran pledged to limit its nuclear program and enrich uranium to no more than 3.67% in exchange for the lifting of sanctions by the international community. in may 2018, the united states unilaterally withdrew from the agreement, and then restarted and added sanctions against iran. since may 2019, iran has gradually stopped implementing some provisions of the agreement, but promised that the measures taken are "reversible." in 2021, the parties to the iran nuclear deal held multiple rounds of negotiations in vienna, austria, to discuss the resumption of compliance by the united states and iran, with the united states indirectly participating in the negotiations.

last september, the united states and iran released prisoners in exchange for each other. the united states also unfrozen $6 billion of iranian oil export revenue in south korean banks and transferred it to iran's account in qatari banks, which was supervised by qatar and used to purchase humanitarian supplies needed by iran. however, a new round of israeli-palestinian conflict that broke out in october last year interrupted the us-iran negotiation process. the united states essentially prevented iran from withdrawing funds from qatari banks. the unfortunate deaths of former iranian president rahim and former foreign minister abdullahyan in may also stalled talks between iran and the international atomic energy agency (iaea) on improving cooperation.

this article is an exclusive article of observer.com and may not be reproduced without authorization.