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Speech by Iran’s Supreme Leader Raises Ire as Talks Resume
Iran Talks ‘Substantial,’ but Yield No Accord
(about 9 hours later)
GENEVA — The anti-Zionist speech by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, continued to stir controversy on Thursday as international negotiators resumed talks here with Iranian officials on Tehran’s nuclear program.
GENEVA — The foreign policy chief of the European Union spent much of Thursday in detailed negotiations with Iranian officials over an agreement to temporarily freeze Tehran’s nuclear program.
Politicians in Israel expressed outrage not only about Ayatollah Khamenei’s description of Israel on Wednesday as “the rabid dog of the region,” but also about the mild condemnation the speech elicited from the United States and much of Europe.
But the day ended without reports of a breakthrough and with a warning by a leading American lawmaker that he was prepared to introduce legislation next month that would impose new economic sanctions on Iran.
Hilik Bar, the deputy speaker of Israel’s Parliament and a member of the opposition Labor Party, wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry and Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, insisting that they “stand up against the dark, racist statements and incitement.”
The talks on Thursday between Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s top foreign policy official, and Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, were described by a spokesman for Ms. Ashton as “intense” and “substantial.”
The French president, François Hollande, responded sharply to Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech on Wednesday, saying that “Iran must offer answers” in the nuclear talks “and not a certain number of provocative statements.”
Their negotiations were to continue Friday morning.
But a senior Obama administration official was more circumspect Wednesday night in responding to the ayatollah’s speech, which also assailed the United States and France. “I don’t ever like it when people use rhetoric that in any way talks about the U.S. in ways that I find very uncomfortable and not warranted whatsoever,” said the senior administration official, who cannot be identified under the diplomatic protocol for briefing reporters.
Reports in the Iranian news media suggested that the talks might continue into the weekend and could end with the arrival of Secretary of State John Kerry and the foreign ministers of other world powers if a deal appeared close. But whether the remaining issues can be resolved was unclear.
“There are decades of mistrust between the United States and Iran, and we certainly have had many people in our society say difficult things about Iran and Iranians,” the official added. “So I would hope that neither in the U.S. nor in Iran would leaders use rhetoric that may work well in a domestic constituency, but add to the decades of mistrust on both sides.”
At issue is an interim agreement that the United States and five other world powers are seeking to halt progress in Iran’s program for six months so negotiators could pursue a more comprehensive agreement.
In his televised address to thousands of militiamen in Tehran on Wednesday, Ayatollah Khamenei said that Israel was “doomed to extinction.” He had harsh words for France, which has been outspoken about the need to constrain Iran’s nuclear program. Ayatollah Khamenei accused French leaders of “kneeling before the Israeli regime.”
President Obama has told lawmakers that the United States was prepared to provide $6 billion to $7 billion in sanctions relief as part of the interim accord.
The ayatollah also accused the United States of “inhuman deeds,” citing its decision to use atomic weapons against Japan during World War II, its treatment of Native Americans and slavery. But he also said that the Iran wanted friendly ties with all nations, including the United States.
Adding to the drama was a starkly anti-Zionist speech on Wednesday by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Politicians in Israel expressed outrage not only about Ayatollah Khamenei’s description of Israel as “the rabid dog of the region,” but also about the mild condemnation that the speech elicited from the United States and much of Europe.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seized on Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech to press his case against the pending deal with Iran that is being hammered out in Geneva.
Hilik Bar, the deputy speaker of Israel’s Parliament and a member of the opposition Labor Party, wrote to Mr. Kerry and Ms. Ashton insisting that they “stand up against the dark, racist statements and incitement.”
“This reminds us of the dark regimes of the past that plotted against us first, and then against all of humanity,” Mr. Netanyahu said at a meeting with Russian Jewish leaders during a visit to Moscow. “The public responded to him with calls of ‘Death to America! Death to Israel!' ” Mr. Netanyahu noted. “Doesn’t this sound familiar to you? This is the real Iran! We are not confused. They must not have nuclear weapons.”
Asked about Ayatollah Khamenei’s comments by Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, during Mr. Kerry’s testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday, the secretary of state expressed his unhappiness with the speech, though he appeared to temper his response to avoid unsettling the talks.
While Israeli leaders hoped to leverage the ayatollah’s statements to bolster their argument that Iran’s new moderate president, Hassan Rouhani, does not represent a real change, some Israeli analysts said the statements were more likely a sign that Iran was on the brink of reaching an agreement in Geneva and that it was concerned about appeasing hard-liners at home.
“It’s inflammatory, and it’s unnecessary,” Mr. Kerry said. “I don’t want to exacerbate it now sitting here, but our good friends in Israel know full well that we defend their concerns.”
“As Iran approaches some kind of détente with the West, we can expect its rhetoric on Israel to become harsher,” Brandon Friedman, a researcher at Tel Aviv University’s Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, told The Jerusalem Post. Ayatollah Khamenei “wants to set the stage for a deal,” Mr. Friedman said, and “needs to reinforce the remaining pillar of ideology: the little Satan, or Israel.”
Leading members of Congress were less constrained. Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, introduced legislation on Thursday that would give the White House 60 days to conclude an interim agreement. If such an accord were achieved and Mr. Obama were later informed that the Iranians were not in compliance with some of its provisions, the president would have no more than 15 days to reverse the sanctions relief that he had granted Iran.
In Geneva, the American delegation, which is led by Wendy Sherman, a senior State Department official, met with some of the Iranian delegates Wednesday night.
Mr. Corker’s legislation would also give the White House no more than 180 additional days to conclude a more comprehensive agreement that the Obama administration says it is seeking or any sanctions that had been relaxed would be reimposed.
American officials, representatives from five other world powers and Ms. Ashton are trying to conclude an interim accord with Iran that would halt Iran’s nuclear advances for six months, so that negotiators could pursue a more comprehensive agreement.
The aim of the legislation is to prevent the Iranians from dragging out the talks and making an initial agreement the final one.
Ms. Ashton met with Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, on Thursday afternoon, “seeking further progress,” her spokesman said.
It also would set more stringent terms for a comprehensive deal than Iran is currently prepared to accept by demanding that Tehran end uranium enrichment.
After that meeting, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, said that Iran has regained “some” of its “lost trust” in the nuclear negotiations, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported. On Wednesday, Mr. Araqchi had said that trust had been lost to a “great extent” in the previous round and needed to be restored.
Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, said on Thursday that he was prepared to move ahead next month with legislation that would toughen economic sanctions if Iran continued with its nuclear efforts.
Michael
Gordon reported from Geneva, and Jodi Rudoren from Jerusalem. Thomas Erdbrink contributed reporting from Tehran.
“While I support the administration’s diplomatic effort, I believe we need to leave our legislative options open to act on a new, bipartisan sanctions bill in December,” Mr. Reid said.
Jodi Rudoren contributed reporting from Jerusalem, and Thomas Erdbrink from Tehran.
