Local Editor
Supreme leader of Islamic Revolution in Iran, Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei, warned that the United States is “not trustworthy” after former US officials and lawmakers urged diplomacy with the Islamic republic’s incoming president, Sheikh Hasan Rouhani.
“I said at the beginning of the (Iranian) year that I am not optimistic about negotiations with the US, though in the past years I did not forbid negotiating (with them) about certain issues like Iraq”, his eminence told top officials at an iftar banquet in Tehran.
The Leader said in March he was “not optimistic” over the prospects of direct talks Washington on the sidelines of its nuclear negotiations with major powers.
“The Americans are… not trustworthy and they are not honest in their encounters… The stance of American officials over past months once again confirms that one should not be optimistic”, Imam Khamenei said at the iftar, attended Rouhani and outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The Leader’s remarks came less than a week after former US officials and dozens of American lawmakers called for President Barack Obama to pursue diplomacy with Rouhani.
In a letter to Obama, the ex-policymakers said the election of Rouhani, who takes office on August 3, “presents a major potential opportunity”.
“We strongly encourage your administration to seize the moment to pursue new multilateral and bilateral negotiations with Iran once Rouhani takes office and to avoid any provocative action that could narrow the window of opportunity for a more moderate policy out of Tehran”, they wrote.
Source: Al Manar
