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| Iran’s Leader Says Obama Has Removed Military Option | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| TEHRAN — Speaking from a stage decorated with a banner proclaiming “America cannot do a damn thing,” Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday asserted that the Obama administration had taken the option of military intervention to resolve conflicts off the table. | TEHRAN — Speaking from a stage decorated with a banner proclaiming “America cannot do a damn thing,” Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday asserted that the Obama administration had taken the option of military intervention to resolve conflicts off the table. |
| “They realized that military attacks are as dangerous or even more dangerous for the assaulting country as they are for the country attacked,” the leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in an address to the country’s political and military establishment. | “They realized that military attacks are as dangerous or even more dangerous for the assaulting country as they are for the country attacked,” the leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in an address to the country’s political and military establishment. |
| A “military attack is not a priority for Americans now,” he concluded. “They have renounced the idea of any military actions.” | A “military attack is not a priority for Americans now,” he concluded. “They have renounced the idea of any military actions.” |
| The remarks by Ayatollah Khamenei, a Shiite Muslim cleric who has the final say in the Islamic Republic’s key policies, amounted to his first public reaction to President Obama’s commencement speech last week at the United States Military Academy in West Point, in which he asserted that the United States has other ways of carrying out foreign policy besides military force. Having the best hammer, Mr. Obama said, does not mean that “every problem is a nail.” | The remarks by Ayatollah Khamenei, a Shiite Muslim cleric who has the final say in the Islamic Republic’s key policies, amounted to his first public reaction to President Obama’s commencement speech last week at the United States Military Academy in West Point, in which he asserted that the United States has other ways of carrying out foreign policy besides military force. Having the best hammer, Mr. Obama said, does not mean that “every problem is a nail.” |
| The ayatollah’s remarks also came against the backdrop of other events suggesting that the Obama administration was more amenable to negotiating with its adversaries than in fighting them. On Saturday the administration announced it had secured the release of the only American military prisoner of war in the Afghanistan conflict, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, by negotiating with the Taliban and releasing five Taliban prisoners held in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. | The ayatollah’s remarks also came against the backdrop of other events suggesting that the Obama administration was more amenable to negotiating with its adversaries than in fighting them. On Saturday the administration announced it had secured the release of the only American military prisoner of war in the Afghanistan conflict, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, by negotiating with the Taliban and releasing five Taliban prisoners held in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. |
| Iran is currently engaged in negotiations with world powers, including the United States, which want guarantees that the Iranian nuclear program is peaceful. President Obama has repeatedly said that the military option remains on the table to resolve the nuclear dispute should negotiations fail. | Iran is currently engaged in negotiations with world powers, including the United States, which want guarantees that the Iranian nuclear program is peaceful. President Obama has repeatedly said that the military option remains on the table to resolve the nuclear dispute should negotiations fail. |
| Ayatollah Khamenei, who in the past repeatedly has said the United States was intent on attacking Iran, but incapable of doing so, apparently has now concluded — at least in public — that military action from the United States should not be expected. | Ayatollah Khamenei, who in the past repeatedly has said the United States was intent on attacking Iran, but incapable of doing so, apparently has now concluded — at least in public — that military action from the United States should not be expected. |
| He did, however, warn of what he described as a range of methods the United States is using to influence the politics of other nations. | He did, however, warn of what he described as a range of methods the United States is using to influence the politics of other nations. |
| One, he said, was support for internal opposition groups and protests such as the Iranian demonstrations that challenged Iran’s 2009 presidential elections. Another, the ayatollah said, was support for what he called terrorist acts in Iran and elsewhere. | One, he said, was support for internal opposition groups and protests such as the Iranian demonstrations that challenged Iran’s 2009 presidential elections. Another, the ayatollah said, was support for what he called terrorist acts in Iran and elsewhere. |
| “They did it in Iraq, Afghanistan and some Arab countries of the region and in our country as well,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, reiterating claims that American agents or their affiliates were behind the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists in recent years. | “They did it in Iraq, Afghanistan and some Arab countries of the region and in our country as well,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, reiterating claims that American agents or their affiliates were behind the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists in recent years. |
| The occasion for Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech was the 25th anniversary of the death of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic who died in 1989. | The occasion for Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech was the 25th anniversary of the death of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic who died in 1989. |
| While he spoke at a sprawling mausoleum housing Ayatollah Khomeini’s remains, leaflets were handed out by conservative critics of President Hassan Rouhani, a self-described moderate cleric, objecting to his nuclear and cultural policies. | While he spoke at a sprawling mausoleum housing Ayatollah Khomeini’s remains, leaflets were handed out by conservative critics of President Hassan Rouhani, a self-described moderate cleric, objecting to his nuclear and cultural policies. |
| “What did we give — and what did we get?” the pamphlets read, complaining that Mr. Rouhani had suspended parts of Iran’s uranium enrichment program in the nuclear talks but was not fully compensated with reciprocal moves easing economic sanctions. | “What did we give — and what did we get?” the pamphlets read, complaining that Mr. Rouhani had suspended parts of Iran’s uranium enrichment program in the nuclear talks but was not fully compensated with reciprocal moves easing economic sanctions. |