Iran’s top leader on Thursday said he would not stand in the way of continued nuclear negotiations with world powers and would accept a “fair” agreement, but vowed not to bow to bullying by the United States.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei added that a nuclear agreement with the P5+1 notwithstanding, Israel’s security would decline.
“Know that whether or not we reach a nuclear agreement, Israel becomes more insecure day by day,” he was quoted by Reuters as saying on Iranian state television, without elaborating.
Earlier this month, Khamenei published a nine-point plan calling for the destruction of Israel, titled “9 key questions about the elimination of Israel.” It was posted on his Twitter account, using the hashtag #handsoffalaqsa, in reference to the recent tensions on the Temple Mount.
The incident prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to once again warn world nations away from negotiating a bad deal with Iran over its nuclear program, arguing that Tehran’s calls to eliminate Israel showed it is “unreformed.”
Netanyahu has been vehemently opposed to a deal that would ease international sanctions on the Islamic Republic before Tehran dismantles in its nuclear program. A recent poll showed that more than two-thirds of Americans oppose such a deal as well.
Americans, according to the survey by American political strategist Frank Luntz, are also overwhelmingly mistrustful of Iran, and consider it to be the country that poses the greatest threat to the United States.
The current nuclear talks were extended until July 2015, after the P5+1 and Iran failed to reach an agreement by the set target date of November 24.
“I am not opposed to the extension of the talks, for the same reason that I wasn’t opposed to the talks per se,” Khamenei said on Thursday.
Khamenei said Washington frequently changes its stances toward Iran in the talks because of its domestic problems, a reference to differences between President Barack Obama and Republicans who now control the US Congress.
“They raise a word today. The other they withdraw from it, because of domestic problems,” said Khamenei.
He said Iran would accept a fair and sensible outcome of the talks, but would not be intimidated.
“We accept rational words; we accept fair and sensible agreements. But if there are bullying and excessive demands, no we won’t accept. The Islamic Republic from top to bottom and neither the people nor the authorities will accept such remarks,” he said.
Referring to the waning popularity of Obama, low turnout in the recent congressional election and racial protests in Ferguson, Missouri, Khamenei said, “The US leaders need a big victory,” to overcome their domestic problems.
“We know that it is the American government who needs this deal and they will be the losers if there isn’t one,” he added.
He insisted, however, that failure to reach an agreement would not spell disaster for Iran.
“If the negotiations fail, it will not be the end of the world, because our economy is one of resistance,” he said.
Khamenei has the final say on all Iranian matters of state.
Iran and the major powers agreed Monday to decide by March 1 about what steps must be taken and on what schedule. A final deal is meant to follow four months later.
The Western powers suspect that Iran’s nuclear research has a military dimension, but Tehran continues to insist the program is peaceful, focusing on power generation and medical research.