Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has authorised the memorandum of understanding signed between Tehran and Washington, while making clear that his approval came with reservations and conditions to safeguard Iran’s interests.
In a message to the Iranian people on Thursday, Khamenei said he had accepted the agreement after receiving assurances from President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior officials that Iran’s rights and the interests of the “Resistance Front” would be protected.
Khamenei said Pezeshkian, who also heads Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, had taken responsibility for ensuring that Tehran’s interests remained protected during the implementation of the agreement.
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He added that Iran would not compromise if the United States made what he described as excessive demands, stressing that any future negotiations with Washington would not amount to accepting the American position.
Khamenei also endorsed direct negotiations with the U.S. late Thursday in a statement read by state media.
“It is obvious that the face-to-face negotiations that will be held in the future will not mean accepting the enemy’s opinion,” he said.
It was Khamenei’s first reaction to the deal recently reached between Iran and the U.S. to end hostilities.
The supreme leader has not been seen in public since he was wounded in a strike at the start of the war.
The agreement calls for a permanent end to hostilities and starts a 60-day negotiating clock to reach a final deal on the future of Iran’s nuclear program, though Trump left the door open to resume attacks. It appears to offer Iran several benefits up front while extracting little in return.
It states that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried under rubble, must at minimum be diluted under international supervision. It also states that Iran shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons — a commitment it has made previously. But beyond stating that the U.S. and Iran will negotiate over Iran’s nuclear program, other commitments still need to be worked out.
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Much of the agreement would restore the status quo before the war, including ending hostilities, restarting talks between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program, and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial passage for the world’s oil and natural gas whose closure created a historic energy crisis.
With inputs from agencies