Iran’s Khamenei backs resumption of nuclear talks with ‘enemy’ US
Supreme leader gives new president go-ahead to pursue negotiations, but warns against trusting Washington, echoing comments made before 2015 pact between Tehran and world powers
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s supreme leader opened the door Tuesday to renewed negotiations with the United States over his country’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, telling its civilian government there was “no barrier” to engaging with its “enemy.”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s remarks set clear red lines for any talks taking place under the government of President Masoud Pezeshkian, a relative moderate, and renewed his warnings that Washington wasn’t to be trusted.
But his comments mirror those made around the time of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Tehran’s nuclear program greatly curtailed in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
It remains unclear just how much room Pezeshkian will have to maneuver, particularly as tensions remain high in the wider Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war and as the US prepares for a presidential election in November.
“We do not have to pin our hope to the enemy. For our plans, we should not wait for approval by the enemies,” Khamenei said in a video broadcast by state television. “It is not contradictory to engage the same enemy in some places, there’s no barrier.”
Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, also warned Pezeshkian’s cabinet, “Do not trust the enemy.”
Khamenei, 85, has fluctuated between urging and dismissing talks with Washington since then-president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018.
The US State Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment over Khamenei’s remarks.
There have been indirect talks between Iran and the US in recent years mediated by Oman and Qatar, two of the United States’ Middle East interlocutors when it comes to Iran. However, US President Joe Biden’s top negotiator in the talks, special envoy Rob Malley, has been on leave since July 2023, when he was suspended and reportedly put under investigation for mishandling classified documents. He has denied wrongdoing.
Since the deal’s collapse, Iran has abandoned all limits that the deal put on its program, and enriches uranium to up to 60% purity — near weapons-grade levels of 90%.
Surveillance cameras installed by the International Atomic Energy Agency have been disrupted, while Iran has barred some of the Vienna-based agency’s most experienced inspectors. Iranian officials also have increasingly threatened that they could pursue atomic weapons.
There was also no comment from Israel on the possibility of talks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently campaigned for the US and the West to take a harder line against Iran, demanding the international community tighten sanctions and put Iran under threat of military action should it continue to develop its nuclear program.
The opening toward talks comes as tensions between Iran and Israel are running high, with the US sending aircraft carriers to the region to deter Iran from carrying out a promised revenge attack on Israel over the Tehran assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
In April, Tehran launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel, after an alleged Israeli attack on an Iranian consular building in Syria that killed two Iranian generals and others.
Pezeshkian, a former lawmaker who won the presidency after a May helicopter crash killed har-line President Ebrahim Raisi, campaigned in part on a promise to reengage the West with negotiations.
Khamenei’s remarks as Iran’s paramount leader could provide him with the political cover to do so. Pezeshkian’s new foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, was deeply involved in negotiations on the 2015 deal.
However, it’s not just Iran that’s facing a new presidency. The US will hold a presidential election on November 5, with Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump as the leading candidates. Iran has been concerned about a return to the White House by Trump, whose decision to pull out of the deal was largely based on Israeli complaints that the agreement was not robust enough.
While the US engaged in indirect talks with Iran under President Joe Biden, it remains unclear how that would carry over to a possible Harris administration. Harris, in a speech to the Democratic National Convention last week, said: “I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists.”
Tuesday’s meeting between Khamenei and Pezeshkian’s cabinet included an appearance by former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who helped Iran reach the 2015 deal.
After the meeting, Zarif said in an online message that he would continue to serve as a vice president in Pezeshkian’s administration after earlier publicly resigning over the makeup of the cabinet.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
