Ali Khamenei Says First Round of Iran-U.S. Negotiations 'Executed Well'

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that the negotiations between Iran and the United States regarding Tehran's nuclear file 'have been executed well in the initial steps.' Ali Khamenei, speaking on Tuesday, April 15, during a meeting with senior officials of the three branches of the Islamic Republic, also urged officials not to 'tie' national issues to the negotiations and claimed that during the JCPOA period, 'we conditioned the country and made everything dependent on the progress of the negotiations.' He added, 'We are neither extremely optimistic nor extremely pessimistic about these talks.' The 86-year-old leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran said, 'Ultimately, it is a work and movement that has been decided upon and has been executed well in the initial steps. Of course, we are very pessimistic about the other side, but we are optimistic about our own capabilities.' The first round of negotiations between Tehran and Washington was held on April 11 in Muscat, the capital of Oman, and both parties assessed it as 'positive and constructive.' While it was reported that the next round of talks would take place in Rome, the capital of Italy, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that the new round would again be held in Muscat on April 19. Iran and six world powers signed an agreement known as the 'JCPOA' in July 2015 to limit Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions, but the first Trump administration withdrew from the agreement in May 2018 and imposed severe sanctions on Iran. Since then, Iran has deviated from its commitments to reduce the level of enrichment and production of high-enriched uranium; according to the latest report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, it possesses enough uranium to produce six nuclear weapons, should enrichment levels be increased to 90 percent. Iranian officials have denied any efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. In another part of his remarks, the Supreme Leader emphasized that 'the negotiations may or may not yield results,' stressing that 'the red lines for us and for the other side are completely clear.' He did not elaborate on this, but Ali Mohammad Naeini, spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, stated on Tuesday that 'national security and military defense power are among the red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran that will not be discussed or negotiated under any circumstances.' Khamenei's remarks indicate Iran's 'readiness' to advance negotiations. Donald Trump, in his second term which began in January this year, has resumed the 'maximum pressure' campaign from the previous term and warned Tehran that if a new agreement with the United States is not reached, it will face secondary sanctions and 'bombing.' Steve Witkoff, the U.S. Special Representative who leads the American delegation in the Oman negotiations, stated that Iran does not need to enrich uranium above 3.67 percent, and the focus of the agreement will be on 'verifying the level of uranium enrichment and also verifying the military dimensions of the nuclear program, including missile aspects.' He identified a second critical point as 'verifying the military dimensions' of Iran's nuclear program, stating, 'This includes missiles, the types of missiles they have stored, and includes the bomb trigger.' Iran is currently enriching uranium to a level of 60 percent, which is not far from the 90 percent enrichment needed for nuclear weapons.