Strong statement from Qom seminary students about negotiations with America

From students of the Qom Seminary to the Kayhan newspaper, they have attacked the Foreign Minister of the Raisi government. Amir Abdollahian had not ruled out the possibility of negotiations with the United States.

A group of students and professors of the Qom Seminary issued a statement addressed to Amir Abdollahian, the Iranian Foreign Minister, saying: "The government of Mr. Raisi and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the revolutionary government were supposed to not repeat the mistakes of the Rouhani and Zarif governments, especially in matters of negotiations, and to learn from these mistakes, but unfortunately, to our surprise, we are witnessing you taking exactly the same wrong path and officially giving the Americans an assist!" The Iranian Foreign Minister had said a few days ago: "If we reach a stage in the negotiation process where reaching a good agreement with high guarantees requires us to have some level of dialogue with the Americans, we will not ignore this either."

These students added in their announcement: "You are expected to correct this inappropriate and illogical statement as soon as possible and continue the negotiation process according to the policy and framework announced by the Supreme Leader."

Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, also tweeted: "So far, communication with the American delegation in Vienna has been through informal written exchanges, and there has been no need for anything more than this and there will be no need for anything more. This method of communication will only be replaced by other methods when a good agreement is available."

Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor-in-chief and representative of the Supreme Leader in the Kayhan newspaper, called the statements of a number of Iranian officials, such as Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the country's Foreign Minister, about the possibility of direct negotiations with the United States "ill-considered," and said that "domestic sycophants" in Iran have welcomed the statements of Amir-Abdollahian and Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.

Shariatmadari, who is a critic of the JCPOA agreement, called direct negotiations with the United States unnecessary in his note and said that Iranian officials are "following water towards a mirage."

President Ebrahim Raisi of the Islamic Republic also spoke about the possibility of direct negotiations with the United States in an interview with Iranian state television on Tuesday evening, January 25.

Raisi stated in this interview: "If the United States is ready to lift sanctions against Iran, the two countries can negotiate directly."

It seems that the statements made by senior government officials of the Islamic Republic regarding the possibility of direct negotiations with the United States could not have been made without the knowledge and approval of Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Republic.

However, Hossein Shariatmadari, the Supreme Leader's representative in the Kayhan newspaper, sought to appease the "Hezbollah and revolutionary forces" in his note following Ebrahim Raisi's recent statements, adding to Raisi: "These statements have also sparked a wave of concern among a wide range of Hezbollah and revolutionary forces, and we hope that they will correct their ill-considered statements as soon as possible and dispel the doubts they have raised."

In the not-so-distant past, officials in the Rouhani administration or Ali Larijani, the former speaker of the parliament, had said, either implicitly or explicitly, that Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, was involved in all the negotiations leading to the JCPOA agreement, and that the nuclear agreement was signed with his approval.

It is no secret that, according to the explicit or implicit statements of the Islamic Republic's officials, Ali Khamenei is the sole decision-maker in the position of the Leader of the Islamic Republic on key issues such as Iran's nuclear program. Politicians from the countries participating in the Vienna nuclear talks are also aware of this and know that the proposal for direct negotiations with the United States by Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Secretary of the National Security Council Ali Shamkhani, or President Ebrahim Raisi could not have been raised without the knowledge of the Leader of the Islamic Republic.

Source: DW