Friday, April 10, 2015
Ayatollah Khamenei Accuses WH of 'Lying,' Being 'Deceptive,' and Having 'Devilish' Intentions
5:42 PM, Apr 9, 2015
• By THOMAS JOSCELYN
President Obama has long known that the real decision maker in
Iran is Ayatollah Khamenei, the so-called supreme leader. While other
Iranian officials have negotiated with Western powers over the mullahs’
nuclear program, Khamenei’s opinion is the only one that really counts.
It is for this reason that Obama began writing directly to Khamenei early in his presidency.
Earlier
today, Khamenei broke his silence on the supposed “framework” the Obama
administration has been trumpeting as the basis for a nuclear accord.
Khamenei’s speech pulled the rug out from underneath the
administration.
Khamenei accused the Obama administration of
“lying” about the proposed terms, being “deceptive,” and having
“devilish” intentions, according to multiple published accounts of his
speech, as well as posts on his official Twitter feed.
Khamenei also disputed the key terms Obama
administration officials have said were agreed upon in principle.
Economic sanctions will not be phased out once Iran’s compliance has
been “verified,”
according to the Ayatollah. Instead, Khamenei said that if the U.S.
wants a deal, then all sanctions must be dropped as soon as the
agreement is finalized. Khamenei also put strict limits on the reach of
the inspectors who would be tasked with this verification process in the
first place.
Beginning earlier this month and in the days since,
Obama and his advisers have attempted to portray the negotiations as
major step forward. During an appearance in the Rose Garden on April 2, Obama said the U.S. and its allies have “reached a historic understanding with Iran.”
Khamenei does not agree. “There was no need to take a position” on the supposed deal before today, Khamenei said.
“The officials are saying that nothing has been done yet and nothing is
obligatory. I neither agree nor disagree [with any deal].”
"What has been done so far does not guarantee an
agreement, nor its contents, nor even that the negotiations will
continue to the end," Khamenei elaborated.
"I neither support nor oppose it," Khamenei reportedly said
of the proposed deal. "Everything is in the details; it may be that the
deceptive other side wants to restrict us in the details."
It gets much worse.
When Obama announced that a “framework” for the deal was in place earlier this month, the administration released a fact sheet
purportedly showing the agreed upon “parameters.” The White House said
the terms outlined in the fact sheet “reflect the significant progress
that has been made in discussions between the P5+1, the European Union,
and Iran.”
Khamenei would beg to differ.
“The White House put out a statement just a few
hours after our negotiators finished their talks...this statement, which
they called a 'fact sheet', was wrong on most of the issues," Khamenei
said, according to Reuters. Khamenei added that the fact sheet, which doesn’t match Iran’s understanding, exposes America’s “devilish” intentions.
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