Baku, Azerbaijan, May 8
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Friday prayer leaders in Iran strongly criticized the U.S.' position in nuclear talks with Iran, as negotiators are increasingly demonstrate hopes for settling the nuclear dispute.
Tehran Friday prayer leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami alarmed Iranian nuclear delegation team to leave the negotiation table whenever they feel that the U.S. poses a threatening approach, Fars News Agency reported May 8.
Mashhad city's Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda said that the U.S.' position implies its desire to destroys Iran's nuclear facilities.
He recommended that the Iranian delegation avoid trusting Washington, reminding them that Iran's late supreme leader (Imam Khomeini) called the U.S. a "big devil".
Shiraz city's Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Asadoolah Imani said, "the U.S. is in worst condition in term of honor ever." According to ISNA, he said that continuance of nuclear talks under the shadow of threats is meaningless anymore and Iranian delegation must not tolerate that.
Tabriz city's Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Mohsen Mojtahed Shabastari also said that Iran's nuclear negotiation team should obey the supreme leader's (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) commands and defend the country's honor.
Iran's clerics criticism came after Ayatollah Khamenei said on May 6 that the Islamic Republic would not accept nuclear negotiations, if they were conducted under the shadow of threats.
Khamenei said the US also needs to negotiate with Iran over the Islamic Republic's nuclear case.
"Their need for negotiation is not less than Iran, but even more," Khamanei said, the supreme leader's official website reported.
Khamenei further said that Iranian nuclear negotiators should be committed to the "red lines."
"They should negotiate with respect to the red lines, but should not accept the imposition, humiliation and threats," Khamenei said.
Iran and the P5+1 group (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) have started drafting the text for a final nuclear agreement.
The sides reached a nuclear framework agreement on April 2 in Lausanne that raised hope for achieving a comprehensive nuclear deal by June 30. The deal provisions the removal of all international sanctions on Iran and in return narrowing the range of the country's nuclear activities.
The US and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon, something that Iran denies.
Edited by CN