Crucial details of nuclear deal to be worked out, says Khamenei

Iran’s supreme leader has invited domestic critics of a nuclear agreement reached last week to speak out, emphasising that it was too early for him to make conclusions about the framework because crucial details were still to be worked out.

The leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also expressed strong and rare criticism of its regional competitor, Saudi Arabia, calling the new leaders in Riyadh “inexperienced youths” who were highlighting the country’s “barbarous features”. In remarks that are bound to escalate tensions with Saudi Arabia, Mr Khamenei referred to Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen as an invasion and “a genocide”, which he called a “bad mistake” and a crime akin “to those committed by the Zionists in Gaza”.

Mr Khamenei was speaking about the nuclear talks for the first time since a framework agreement was struck in Lausanne, Switzerland, last week. He said he saw no need to make a clear pronouncement on the agreements, because no signed agreement was publicly available.

“There was no need to take a position,” he said. “The officials are saying that nothing has been done yet and nothing is obligatory. I neither agree nor disagree.”

Both Mr Khamenei and Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, who spoke at a different event, commented on the lifting of sanctions, a central Iranian demand. Still, the two men appeared to diverge on when the sanctions should be cancelled. Mr Khamenei said he had asked for sanctions to be completely lifted on the same day as an agreement, but Mr Rouhani said this must happen on the day a deal is put in place, potentially months after a signed agreement.

“The sanctions should be lifted all together on the same day of the agreement, not six months or one year later,” Mr Khamenei said. “If lifting of sanctions is supposed to be connected to a process, then why do we negotiate?”

The president took a different approach. “We will not sign any agreement, unless all economic sanctions are totally lifted on the first day of the implementation of the deal,” Mr Rouhani said.

There is plenty of time to consider a deal and review the actions of opponents, he suggested, saying the self-imposed deadline of June 30th was in no way sacred.

“They might say that we have only three months left. Well if three months becomes four months the sky won’t come falling down,” he said. “Just as the other side pushed the negotiations back by seven months,” he added, referring to an extension decided in November.

The Iranian leader did not criticise those details of the framework that had already been agreed to, even though some of them would represent big compromises from all parties, including Iran. Mr Khamenei did draw a clear red line, however, over the inspections of military sites, saying such sites would under no circumstances be opened to foreigners. He repeated that while he was not optimistic about negotiating with world powers – especially the US – he did support the talks and Iran's diplomatic team.

“I have agreed to this particular instance of negotiations and I support the negotiators,” Mr Khamenei said, according to his website.

“I trust our negotiators, but I’m really worried as the other side is into lying and breaching promises. An example was the White House fact sheet,” he said.

“This came out a few hours after the negotiations and most of it was against the agreement and was wrong. They are always trying to deceive and break promises.”