Leader of Islamic Ummah Imam Khamenei: 10-year-Long Nuclear Restrictions Unacceptable

Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday Tehran will neither agree with a 10-year-long restriction on its nuclear activities nor IAEA verification of its undertakings as acceptable terms for a deal with the world powers.
“The Americans are seeking to destroy Iran’s nuclear industry and on the opposite side everyone in Iran, including me myself, the government, the parliament, the judiciary, the security and military bodies and all other bodies, are after a good agreement, that is a fair, just and honorable deal in line with Iran’s interests, while stressing on (the country’s) redlines,” the Supreme Leader said, addressing a meeting with heads of the three branches of power and senior state and military officials, where he elaborated on Iran’s redlines and policies in the nuclear talks in explicit words.

The Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei first reminded the history of the negotiations, and said Iran started talks with Washington over its nuclear issue after the US president urged Tehran during the former Iranian administration via a third party to start bilateral talks.

Supreme Leader said the US realized it had been left with no other option but to raise such a request after it saw that all its heavy pressures on Tehran had failed to bring the country to its knee.

Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei said while the Americans had vowed to terminate all the sanctions in 6 months, when the talks started “the Americans changed the 6 months to one year first, and then lengthened the negotiations by making repeated excessive demands and even threats to boost the sanctions and speaking of militarism and on and under the table”.

The Supreme Leader then presented his assessment of the trend of the talks, and said, “Contemplation and study over the trend of the demands made by the Americans shows that they aim to uproot Iran’s nuclear industry and the country’s nuclear essence and change it to a caricature and a window without a content.”

Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei said “the Americans mean to destroy Iran’s nuclear industry … and somehow keep the pressures and sanctions at the same time”.

Supreme Leader said Washington’s main objective is to make Iran surrender and become a dependent nation, specially considering that Iran is a role model for other countries, and they renege and bargain so frequently and break their promises so often for the very same purpose.

Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei said negotiation and deal means give and take, but “we have stated since the very beginning that we want the cruel sanctions be removed, of course, we accept to give some points in return but on the condition that the nuclear industry is not halted or harmed”.

Elaborating on the redlines, Supreme Leader said, “Opposite to what the Americans insist on, we do not accept long-term 10 to 12 years restrictions and we have told them the acceptable number of years for limitations.”

Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei described continued nuclear research and development during the period of limited nuclear activities as Iran’s second redline, saying “They say that we shouldn’t do anything in the 12-year period, but this a doubly wrong and bullying word.”

Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei then pointed to Iran’s third redline, and said, “All the economic, financial and banking sanctions, no matter they are related to the Security Council or the US Congress or the US administration, should be terminated immediately and right at the time when the agreement is endorsed, and the rest of the sanctions should also be removed in rational intervals.”

The Supreme Leader said the US has put forward a complicated, multi-layered and estrange formula for the termination of the sanctions with no guaranteed result for Iran, “but we state our points in very explicit terms”.

“Termination of the sanctions should depend on the fulfillment of Iran’s undertakings; they should avoid saying that we should do our undertakings and then the Agency (IAEA) needs to verify them before the sanctions are removed, (because) we absolutely do not accept such a thing,” Supreme Leader underscored.

The Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei further reiterated that sanctions removal by the powers should correspond to the undertakings that are fulfilled by Iran, meaning that the sanctions that are to be removed should carry the same weight, value and arrangement of the undertakings that Iran fulfills.

“We oppose the condition that fulfillment of the opposite side’s undertakings depend on the IAEA (verification) report because the Agency has proved time and again that it is not independent and fair; hence we have a pessimistic view about it,” Supreme Leader said.

Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei said the West says before removing the sanctions ‘the Agency should be ensured’, “what an irrational word this is, how could it make sure, unless it inspects every inch of this land.”

Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei then reiterated his definite opposition to “unconventional inspections, interrogation of Iranian figures and inspection of military centers”, citing them as among Iran’s other redlines.

The Supreme Leader underlined that Iran would never accept a deal at any price, saying, “We are seeking to remove the sanctions, but we see them as an opportunity from a different angle because they have caused us to pay more attention to domestic forces and capacities.”

His Eminence remarks came as Iran and the world powers are trying to work out a comprehensive agreement before the July 1 deadline and the latest reports from the negotiations say that removal of the sanctions by the West has slowed down progress in drafting the final deal.

On Monday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister and deputy lead negotiator Seyed Abbas Araqchi complained that progress in the negotiations was not made as expected.

“The differences which exist on the text of (a final) agreement have lessened, but progress is not made as expected,” Araqchi said in an interview with the state TV on Monday.

He said the July 1 deadline is not the final date and the seven delegations would hold talks a few more days beyond the deadline if necessary.

Then a few hours later, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also complained that although Tehran is determined to reach a final deal with the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany), the opposite side is making excessive demands.

“All negotiating sides should avoid excessive demands and allegations outside international frameworks to pave the way for achieving an agreement,” Zarif told reporters upon his arrival in Luxembourg on Monday.

In response to the same excessive demands of the western powers in the nuclear talks, the Iranian parliament approved a bill on Tuesday which requires the government of President Rouhani to protect the country’s nuclear rights in its negotiations with the world powers.
213 Iranian legislators voted for the bill which also underlines the necessity for safeguarding the country’s nuclear achievements.

According to the bill, the results of Iran’s nuclear talks with the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany) are valid if the following requirements are met transparently:

The full and total removal of sanctions should be stated in the text of any agreement and should be implemented on the same day that Iran will start doing its undertakings.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is allowed to make routine and usual visits to the nuclear sites, while access to the military, security and sensitive non-nuclear places is forbidden; the approvals of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) should be respected.

No limitation is accepted in achieving the know-how of the peaceful nuclear technology and Research and Development (R&D) and the approvals of the SNSC should be respected.

Note 1- Based on articles 77 and 125 of the Constitution, the results of the negotiations should be presented to the parliament.

Note 2- The foreign minister is required to report the trend of the implementation of the agreement to the parliament every 6 months; the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission will report the same trend to the parliament members every 6 months.