‘No Barrier’ to Nuclear Talks With U.S., Iran’s Supreme Leader Says

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‘No Barrier’ to Nuclear Talks With U.S., Iran’s Supreme Leader Says

Iran’s supreme leader suggested that his country would pursue nuclear negotiations with the ******* States, telling the country’s government there was “no barrier,” to discussions with the “******,” in a video broadcast on state television Tuesday.

It was unclear if Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was signaling anything more substantive than the back-channel talks the ******* States and Iran have held recently on the status of Tehran’s nuclear program and Western sanctions.

His comments, including a warning against trusting the ******* States, came during a meeting with the cabinet of President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran, the newly elected reformist leader, amid rising tensions between Iran and *******.

“It is not contradictory to engage the same ****** in some places, there’s no barrier,” Mr. Khamenei said in the video. “The issue is that we should not pin our hope to the ****** and trust him.”

Dr. Pezeshkian, a cardiac surgeon, won office in a special election held in June after his predecessor, Ebrahim Raisi, ***** in a helicopter ******. Mr. Raisi was seen as more of a hard-liner, in step with the Shiite ******* clerics who rule the country, and as a potential successor to Mr. Khamenei as supreme leader.

It ******** unclear whether Iran’s change in leadership and the approaching election of a new U.S. president in November could presage a shift in relations between the two countries. But Mr. Khamenei holds the ultimate say in Iran’s government, and the extent to which Dr. Pezeshkian will be able to steer foreign policy is yet to be seen.

During his campaign, Dr. Pezeshkian said he would engage the West in nuclear negotiations to lift economic sanctions crippling Iran’s economy. Mr. Khamenei shares the goal of sanctions relief, but that is complicated by regional tensions, particularly Iran’s backing of armed groups that have been in conflict with ******* and the ******* States.

“Many people in the previous administration did not think they could negotiate with Trump because they saw him as unpredictable,” said Ray Takeyh, an expert on Iran and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “This is essentially establishing the parameters for negotiations should Kamala Harris win.”

Oman and Qatar have recently acted as intermediaries for informal communication between the ******* States and Iran. There were indirect talks in Oman in May, and Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani,

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Iran on Monday.

Mr. Khamenei’s statement on Tuesday likely was not meant as green lighting open, direct talks with the ******* States, but his public comments have been somewhat inconsistent in recent years, said Mehrzad Boroujerdi, an Iran expert and dean of the College of Arts, Sciences and Education at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Asked about Mr. Khamenei’s comments, a State Department spokesperson did not address them directly, but said that the ******* States would judge Iran by its actions, not its words, and that their conflict remained far from resolution.

In 2015, Iran agreed to downsize its nuclear program — specifically its enrichment of uranium, a possible step toward building an atomic ***** — in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. But in 2018, President Donald J. Trump withdrew the ******* States from the agreement, restored the sanctions and imposed new penalties.

Iran then sharply ramped up its uranium enrichment and stopped cooperating with the ******* Nations nuclear organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Relations between the ******* States and Iran remain strained, as tensions between Iran and ******* escalate over the war between ******* and ******, an Iranian ally. Since that war began, Iran-backed forces in Lebanon and Yemen have repeatedly attacked *******, and ******* has retaliated. ******* ******* a group of Iranian commanders in Syria, and Iran responded with a barrage of missiles and drones aimed at *******.

Iran recently threatened to retaliate against ******* after the ************** of Ismail Haniyeh, ******’s political leader, in Tehran. With the ******* States and others urging restraint, the full-fledged retaliation has yet to come, but the ***** of a greater conflict in the Middle East ********.

Leily Nikounazar contributed reporting.

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