Senior Cleric Calls for Iranian Officials’ Rigid Response to US Irresponsible Remarks

Tehran’s provisional Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ahmad Khatami slammed the US statesmen for their anti-Iran remarks after the nuclear agreement with Iran, and called for the Iranian officials’ firm response to their comments.

Addressing a large and fervent congregation of the people on Tehran University campus on Friday, Ayatollah Khatami said, “Our officials should take a firm stance towards the US officials’ remarks.”

He pointed to the US officials’ remarks on the removal of sanctions and the status of uranium enrichment in Iran, and said, “The Americans say that the sanctions regime will remain unchanged, and this is a violation of their undertakings.”

Ayatollah Khatami reiterated that Iran entered the nuclear talks for the sake of the removal of the sanctions, and said, “Otherwise we could increase the number of our centrifuges to 40,000 or 50,000 from the current 19,000.”

On Thursday, Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei blasted the US statesmen for their contradictory remarks after the nuclear agreement with Tehran, and called on Iranian officials show more sensitivity and give proper response to their comments.

“In the nuclear talks with are negotiating with the 5+1, but the US administration is, in fact, the main party; but the US officials speak very badly and a decision needs to be taken about the manner they speak,” Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei said in a meeting with the head and members of Iran’s Assembly of Experts in Tehran.

“Don’t say that the Americans are uttering these words to convince their internal rivals; of course, I believe that the internal disputes in the US are real and they have differences and the reason for such a difference is clear to us, but what is officially said needs a response and if no response is given to them, the other side’s remarks will be entrenched,” he added.

Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei also referred to the US officials’ remarks on the suspension of sanctions, and said Tehran has always underlined the necessity for the termination and not suspension of embargoes.

“If the sanctions are not due to be removed, then there will be no deal either. Hence, there needs to be a decision to be taken in this regard,” he added.

Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei said Iran has made some concessions during the negotiations with the world powers in order to see a removal of the sanctions in return, otherwise we wouldn’t have attended the negotiations and Iran could have increased its 19,000 centrifuges to 60,000 centrifuges, continue 20% uranium enrichment and accelerate its research and development activities.

“If the sanctions are due to be suspended, our actions should also be arranged in the form of suspension and not essential measures on the ground,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

“Of course, the other side says that removal of certain sanctions is not within the US administration’s authority; in response we say that those sanctions that fall under the US administration and the European governments’ authority should be terminated,” he added.

Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei also blasted the US officials’ remarks that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has created some opportunities for the Americans both inside and outside Iran and in the region, and said, “The Iranian officials shouldn’t allow the US to make use of any opportunity inside the country and they should also try in order not to allow the Americans to find any such opportunity outside Iran because the closer they come to such opportunities, the worse the nations’ sufferings, humiliation and backwardness will grow.”

Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei reiterated the complete ban on any negotiation between the Iranian officials and the Americans on other issues, and said there won’t be any other talks with the White House, except for the nuclear issue, because “the US positions are fully against the stances of the Islamic Republic.”

Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei said Iran is not like some other underdeveloped countries that the US officials speak to as they wish, and stressed that Iran is a powerful nation and has already proved its capabilities in action.

Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei referred to the US officials’ remarks that they expect Iran to pick up a different course of action, and said they mean ignoring the Islamic values, non-commitment to the Islamic laws and Iran’s compliance with the US policies in the region which include full annihilation of the resistance forces and full hegemony over Syria and Iraq, and they should know that “such a thing will never happen”.

Elaborating on the process of the JCPOA’s approval in Iran after the nuclear agreement was reached with the world powers in Vienna on July 14, Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei underlined that the JCPOA should be precisely scrutinized by experts, and stressed that the parliament should certainly play a role in this regard.

Yet, Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei said he reserves judgment on the agreement and would not advise “the parliament on how to study the JCPOA or on approving or disapproving it. These are the people’s representatives who should decide about it.”

Iran and the world powers reached a final agreement in Vienna on July 14 to end a 13-year-old nuclear standoff.

A week later, the UNSC unanimously endorsed a draft resolution turning into international law the JCPOA reached between Iran and the 5+1 group of countries (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany) over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

Now the US Congress and the Iranian parliament have less than 50 days to review the deal to approve or reject its practice.