Khamenei: Enemies Seek to Bring Proxy War to Iran's Borders

The leader of the Islamic Republic warned on Wednesday in strong terms that if "enemies" bring proxy war "to Iran's borders," Tehran's reaction will be "very hard." Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also stated that members of the P5+1 group are "once again making new demands in negotiations," asserting that Iran will not allow inspections of its military sites or interrogations of its nuclear scientists. According to the official website of Ayatollah Khamenei's office, on Wednesday, May 30, he referred to Iran's nuclear negotiations with global powers and said: "Regarding inspections, we have said we will not allow any inspections by foreigners at any military sites." The leader added: "They say interviews with nuclear scientists should be allowed; this means interrogation... I will not allow foreigners to come and talk to our scientists and the dear children of the nation who have brought this knowledge to this point." Khamenei referred to these issues as "new excesses in nuclear negotiations" and emphasized: "Enemies should know that the Iranian nation and officials will not yield in the face of excesses and bullying at all." According to the leader, "The arrogant and shameless enemy expects us to allow them to discuss a fundamental and national indigenous advancement with our scientists and researchers, but absolutely such permission will not be granted." Khamenei's remarks about "new demands in negotiations" come just days after his international affairs advisor and the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly reported changes in some of the U.S. positions in the nuclear negotiations. Ali Akbar Velayati, Khamenei's international affairs advisor, had recently stated that "negotiations must proceed based on the initial agreements" and accused U.S. representatives in the nuclear talks of "backing away step by step from that initial promise." Velayati said, "Americans should not continue in their own way, threatening and trying to achieve their goals through political duplicity" and added: "For example, regarding Fordow, after many efforts by our negotiating team, they accepted an agreement, but in the next round at the negotiating table, they said other things that were different from previous statements; meaning they were not even committed to their own promises." Inspections of military sites in Iran suspected of conducting nuclear-related experiments are one of the main points of contention between representatives of the Islamic Republic and global powers. In his remarks on Wednesday, the leader also stated, "I have information that enemies, in collaboration with some foolish officials in the Persian Gulf region, are trying to bring proxy wars to Iran's borders," warning: "They should know that if any mischief occurs, Iran's reaction will be very hard." Khamenei did not provide further details about this part of his statement, but Iran and Arab Sunni countries in the Persian Gulf have long been engaged in a fierce rivalry over the civil wars in Syria and Yemen, which some media and analysts refer to as a "proxy war." The Islamic Republic firmly supports the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, while Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and other Arab Sunni countries support the opposition. In Yemen, Iran supports the Shiite Houthi rebels who have overthrown the central government, while Saudi Arabia leads a coalition of Arab countries that acts to restore the ousted government and confront the Houthis.