TEHRAN, Iran: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that he is neither overly optimistic nor unduly pessimistic about the ongoing nuclear talks with the United States, acknowledging that the talks may or may not lead to a breakthrough.
While speaking in a meeting with top government officials, he added that the negotiations may or may not yield results.
He said the first steps in the current talks with the United States have proceeded satisfactorily. He urged officials to continue the negotiations with similar care hereafter.
“We are very skeptical of the other party but confident in our own capabilities,” the Supreme Leader said.
“From here on, it (the talks) must be followed through carefully, with red lines clearly defined for both the other side and for us. The negotiations may lead to results, or they may not,” said Khamenei.
“Avoid linking the country’s fate to these talks.”
President Donald Trump said on Monday he believes Iran is intentionally delaying a nuclear deal with the United States and that it must abandon any drive for a nuclear weapon or face a possible military strike on Tehran’s atomic facilities.
“I think they’re tapping us along,” Trump told reporters after US special envoy Steve Witkoff met in Oman on Saturday with a senior Iranian official.
Ayatollah Khamenei added that none of Iran’s industrial, economic, construction-related, or cultural affairs are in any way dependent on the talks with the US, which are being held indirectly in Oman.
“The removal of the sanctions is not in our hands, but neutralising them is; there are many ways and [there is] great domestic capacity to do that. If this objective is achieved, the country will become impervious to sanctions,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said.
Following last weekend’s talks between Tehran and Washington in Oman—which both sides described as positive—Iranian hopes for economic relief have surged, according to individuals contacted by phone and social media posts from within the country.
The two sides have agreed to resume negotiations on April 19, once again in Oman.
Iran FM to visit Moscow
In a major development, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is set to discuss recent nuclear talks with the United States held in Oman during his upcoming visit to Moscow this week.
On Saturday, Araghchi held talks with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Muscat, the highest-level Iranian-US nuclear engagement since the collapse of a 2015 nuclear deal also known as JCPOA.
The talks came weeks after US President Donald Trump sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for nuclear talks.
Russia welcomed the Iran-US talks as it pushed for a diplomatic solution and warned that military confrontation would be catastrophic.
