Ayatollah Khamenei opposed to direct talks with US

Mohammadreza Bahonar

Mohammadreza Bahonar, deputy speaker of Iran’s parliament announced that the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is opposed to the commencement of negotiations with the US.

Mr. Bahonar who was speaking last night at the Islamic Association of Engineers added: “In the current situation, the leader of the Islamic Republic and the National Security Council are opposed to negotiations with the US.”

ILNA reports that while several government officials have recently remarked that the time is ripe for commencing direct talks with the US, the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament insisted: “No government branch, political or legal figure has the right to violate” the sanctioned regulations of the National Security Council and the orders of Mr. Khamenei regarding negotiations with the US.

Mr. Bahonar claimed: “The conditions for such a negotiation have to come into place which in our opinion, have not yet done so.”

In recent weeks, there have been several reports in the media regarding Iran-US meetings, the most significant of which was the October first meeting between Saeed Jalili, head of Iran’s National Security Council and William Burns, senior US foreign ministry official on the sidelines of Tehran’s talks with G5+1 in Geneva.

On October 7, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced his support for the meeting describing it “constructive and positive.” He has said negotiations between Iran and US representatives have a “logical and clear” framework and we accept that.

Iran and the US have not had any diplomatic relations for about 30 years.

Last month Manochehr Mottaki, Iran foreign minister made a rare visit to Washington to inspect Iran's unofficial diplomatic office at Pakistan Embassy.

This trip took place despite the fact that Iranian diplomats in their trip to the United Nations were not allowed to travel any further than a 40 kilometre radius of the United Nations building.

On Saturday, in a statement, the reform group, Association of Combatant Clerics expressed their concerns about secret negotiations between Iranian officials and the US.

The Obama administration has made numerous attempts at improving Iran-US relations. Earlier, there were reports of the exchange of two letters between the US president and the leader of the Islamic Republic in international media. There have been no details about the contents of these letters.