Leader: Iran to Remain Committed to Talks despite US Hostility
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iran will continue to hold nuclear talks as it always honors its commitments, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution stated, but at the same time reiterated that the US enmity towards Iran will go on as the nuclear issue is just an excuse for Washington's hostility.
“The job that the Foreign Ministry and the governmental officials have started regarding the nuclear negotiations will continue, and Iran will not breach the job it has initiated, but all should know that the US hostility is towards the principle of the Islamic Revolution and Islam," Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said, addressing a huge gathering of people from the northwestern city of Tabriz, here in Tehran on Monday.
"And" the leader added "the hostility will not end with talks,”
On November 24, 2013, Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) signed a six-month deal on Tehran’s nuclear program in Geneva, based on which the world powers agreed to suspend some non-essential sanctions and to impose no new nuclear-related bans in return for Tehran's decision to suspend its 20% enrichment for a period of six months.
The two sides are also gearing up to hold a fresh round of negotiations in the Austrian capital of Vienna on February 18 in order to draw up a comprehensive nuclear deal.
Meanwhile, Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have also signed two joint statements in recent months to outline a roadmap on bilateral cooperation on certain outstanding issues regarding Iran's peaceful nuclear program.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Supreme Leader reiterated that Iran’s nuclear case is just an excuse for the US, adding that Americans will raise several other issues later even if their standoff over Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program is resolved.
Ayatollah Khamenei once again expressed lack of optimism about the nuclear talks in the wake of the US hostile attitudes, and added, “The signs of lack of optimism are now emerging, and its sensible reason is the unfounded and outrageous remarks made by the American senators and officials against the Iranian nation.”
The Leader went on to say that Iranian people very well responded to the US officials’ rudeness by staging mass rallies on the 35th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution on February 11, noting that the million-strong demonstrators aimed to warn the US not to "make any wrong calculation."
The Leader noted that during their nationwide rallies, the Iranian nation sent a message to officials that nation is supporting them and they should not feel weakness in the confrontation with enemies.
Iranians on February 11 celebrated the 35th anniversary of the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Millions of people of different social strata, carrying flags and banners in support of the Islamic Republic, poured into the streets in nationwide mass rallies to mark the occasion.
The huge crowd of demonstrators in the rallies also paid tribute to the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, under whose leadership the revolutionary movements triumphed over the despotic regime of Pahlavi on February 11, 1979.
Carrying images of Imam Khomeini and Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, people in Iranian cities reaffirmed their allegiance to the causes of the Islamic Revolution.
