Nuclear talks showed US hostility towards Iran, says supreme leader

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/09/nuclear-talks-us-hostility-iran-khamenei

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Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has lashed out at the "Great Satan" America before new nuclear talks began on Thursday, saying recent negotiations had exposed Washington's hostility towards his country.

As senior Iranian and western diplomats gathered in Geneva to discuss the implementation of an agreement sealed in November between Tehran and six world powers, Khamenei – who has the final word on all Iranian state matters – made it clear that he remained sceptical of the US and its intentions.

"We had announced previously that on certain issues, if we feel it is expedient, we would negotiate with the Satan [the US] to deter its evil," he told a crowd of clerics and his followers from Qom, which devout Shia Muslims consider a holy city. "The nuclear talks showed the enmity of America against Iran, Iranians, Islam and Muslims."

A few hours after Khamenei's speech, Iran's deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, was due to meet Helga Schmid, a deputy to the EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, in Geneva to discuss issues still to be resolved before the nuclear deal can be put into effect.

Under the deal, Tehran will roll back its nuclear programme and accept more scrutiny of its facilities, including UN inspections of its heavy-water plant in Arak and a key uranium mine, in exchange for partial relief from sanctions. Both sides have said they aim to reach a comprehensive deal to follow the interim agreement, which is designed to last for six months.

But a comprehensive deal is at risk from hardliners in Washington, particularly in Congress, who have called for new sanctions, and from conservatives in the Iranian parliament. A group of Iranian MPs have threatened to propose a bill requiring President Hassan Rouhani's government to enrich uranium up to 60%, an unacceptable level for the west, should the US decide to impose new sanctions.

In December the White House attempted to soothe fears of Congress jeopardising a deal by announcing that it would veto a possible new sanctions bill. "If it were to pass, the president would veto it," said Jay Carney, the White House press secretary.

Before the interim deal was struck, Khamenei said he was not optimistic about the talks but he did not oppose the negotiations. Khamenei's control over Tehran's nuclear dossier means the November agreement could not have been reached without his backing.

On Thursday he said Tehran's acceptance was not due to pressure from sanctions. "Our enemies do not know the great Iranian nation. They think that their imposed sanctions forced Iran to enter negotiations. No, it is a wrong," Khamenei said. Warning Iranian diplomats to be wary of western intentions, he said: "The enemy's smile shouldn't be taken seriously."

Since November experts from both sides have met to discuss how to implement the agreement. Issues still in dispute include differences on Tehran's access to research and development of a new model of advanced centrifuges, according to Reuters.

Iran's foreign minister and chief nuclear negotiator, Mohammad Javad Zarif, posted on his Facebook page this week that negotiations so far had produced good results.

"Nuclear talks are going on strongly and seriously, expert negotiators have accomplished good results out of long hours of talks," he wrote. "We continue nuclear negotiations seriously and we have had hours of expert-level negotiations with P5+1 and have gained good results so far."

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