JCPOA term is over, US not trustworthy for negotiations

Speaking at sermons of Tehran’s Friday prayer, Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami said US President Donald Trump is responsible for the killings of figures such as Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, nuclear scientist Mohammad Taheranchi, and others, and it has helped the creation of ISIL. He called US claims of friendship with the Iranian people “a blatant lie,” saying Washington installed “a dark, torturing regime” in Iran and ran spy networks that conspired against the nation. Khatami added that, from the US perspective, anyone who resists its “malice” is branded a terrorist. He criticized the US for asserting the right to decide other countries’ nuclear policies and warned that “the logic of America is the logic of force." Tehran’s Friday Prayer Leader said the 10-year nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA has come to an end, stressing that the United States which “tore up the deal in front of the entire world” is not a trustworthy party for negotiations. He also added that any negotiation with Washington shows “political foolishness and a lack of understanding of US deceitful behavior.” MNA/6632518