Ayatollah: Our Policy Toward 'Arrogant US' Won't Change

Iran's supreme leader speaks out on nuclear deal
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 18, 2015 5:30 PM CDT
Ayatollah: Our Policy Toward 'Arrogant US' Won't Change
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.   (UNCREDITED)

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said today a landmark nuclear deal won't change his country's policy toward the "arrogant" US, making his first public speech since the Islamic Republic's historic pact with world powers. Khamenei said a more wide-ranging agreement with America is unlikely, striking a different pose than moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who earlier said the Vienna accord could "step-by-step remove bricks from the wall of mistrust" between Iran and the US. However, the ayatollah's remarks also praised the Iranian negotiators who struck the deal. That likely means he won't offer a major criticism of the deal as Iran's parliament and its Supreme National Security Council consider the agreement in the coming days.

"Our policy toward the arrogant US government won't change at all," Khamenei says in an address carried live by state television. "We have no negotiations with America about various global and regional issues. We have no negotiations on bilateral issues." Khamenei's speech, which he gave to a large crowd in Tehran to mark the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, stressed that Iran will continue to support its allies in the Middle East, including the Lebanese Hezbollah, Palestinian resistance groups, and the Syrian government. "Khamenei sought to pacify hard-liners who are worried about rapprochement with Washington," says one analyst. "The deal has increased Rouhani's popularity and Khamenei wants to create a balance." (More Iran stories.)

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