(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Mehdi Khalaji and Patrick Clawson - Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has so far kept silent about the nuclear framework. Yet given the redlines Khamenei set for the negotiations in recent months, the deal can hardly be satisfactory to him. Moreover, it is inauspicious that right after the Obama administration released its fact sheet, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accused Western media and the U.S. government of providing a false report about what had been agreed in the Lausanne negotiations. In Khamenei's March 21 speech in Mashhad, he emphasized that the current negotiations are "only on the nuclear dossier; that's all. Everybody should know it. We do not negotiate with America on regional issues. America's objectives in the region are the opposite of our objectives." Mehdi Khalaji is a Fellow at The Washington Institute, where Patrick Clawson is director of research.
2015-04-06 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive