TEHRAN, Iran: The leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has said that it will be the United States which will lose the most if talks with the world leaders fail over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.
“If the talks fail, the one who will lose the most will be the Americans not us,” Khamenei said in a gathering of senior officials of Basij Resistance Force, a volunteer paramilitary organization operating under the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
On Monday, a week of negotiations held in Vienna to reach an agreement to resolve the 12-year stand-off over Iran’s nuclear program before the November 24 deadline failed while the Islamic Republic and six world powers decided to extend their discussions for seven more months.
The two sides also agreed that the interim deal they signed in Geneva in November last year will remain in place during the course of the negotiations until July 1 next year.
Khamenei further said that the entire Iranian nation will stand up to excessive demands.
“In the [nuclear] negotiations, if sensible things are said and fair and wise arrangements are made, we will agree to them; but, Iranians, from the top all the way to the bottom [of social strata,] from the masses of the people to all its officials, will stand up to excessive demands,” Khamenei said.
The leader also said that Iran does not need to win the trust of the US government with regard to the peaceful nature of its nuclear program.
“We do by no means need the US to trust us. Nor do we seek to win its trust because it (winning the US trust) has no significance for us,” Khamenei said.
Khamenei further said that hegemonic powers are trying to block the Iranian nation’s growth and prosperity under the pretext of Iran’s nuclear issue.