Iran's supreme leader slammed the US over the Ukraine crisis
Key Takeaways
- Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the war in Ukraine should be ended, accusing the United States of fomenting the conflict as a "mafia-like regime."
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, On Tuesday, Iran's Supreme Leader, stated that the war in Ukraine should be ended, accusing the US of fomenting the conflict as a "mafia-like regime."
According to Iran's top political authority, the conflict's origins must also be acknowledged.
"Essentially, the US regime creates crises, thrives on crises, and feeds on global crises. Ukraine has been a victim of this policy as well, "In a televised speech, Khamenei said.
"Ukraine, in my opinion, is a victim of American-created crises," Khamenei said.
"There are two things to take away from this. States that rely on US and Western powers for support must understand that they cannot trust them, "added he.
Although Iran and the US have been adversaries for decades, Tehran and Moscow are strategic partners. In Syria's conflict, Tehran and Moscow are military allies. Because of Western sanctions against Iran, Russia has become an important trading partner.
As talks in Vienna between Iran as well as world powers about reviving a 2015 nuclear deal reached a critical stage, Khamenei slammed Washington and other Western nations.
Iran said on Monday that efforts to revive the pact could succeed if the US made a political decision to meet Tehran's remaining demands, as months of negotiations reach a "now or never" stage, according to one Iranian diplomat.
The stakes are high because failure to reach an agreement after ten months of talks could result in a new regional war, more severe Western sanctions against Iran, and continued upward pressure on world oil prices, which are already under strain due to the Ukraine conflict.
According to an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, the remaining issues are the extent to which sanctions will be rolled back, providing guarantees that the US will not leave the pact again, and resolving questions about uranium traces discovered at several old but undisclosed sites in Iran.
All parties involved in the talks claim that progress has been made toward restoring the 2015 nuclear deal among Iran and the United States in exchange for sanctions relief, which the US abandoned in 2018. However, both Tehran and Washington have stated that some major differences are still to be resolved.