Iran leader approves Iraq talks with U.S.
Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that he approves of proposed talks between U.S. and Iranian officials on Iraq, but warned that the United States must not try to “bully” Iran.
President Bush said Tuesday he favors the talks and that American officials would show Iran “what’s right or wrong in their activities inside of Iraq.”
Khamenei said that “if the Iranian officials can make the U.S. understand some issues about Iraq, there is no problem with the negotiations.”
“But if the talks mean opening a venue for bullying and imposition by the deceitful party (the Americans), then it will be forbidden,” he said in a nationally televised speech in the holy Shiite city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran.
It was the first confirmation that Khamenei, who holds final say on all state matters in Iran, supports the talks. His comments appeared aimed at calming criticism by hard-liners over a major shift in policy by the regime, which long shunned high-level contacts with a country Tehran brands “the Great Satan.”
Both the United States and Iran have said the talks will focus solely on stabilizing Iraq and not deal with the heated issue of Iran’s nuclear program. No time or place has yet been set for talks.
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