Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said yesterday the US had created the “myth” of nuclear weapons to portray Iran as a threat, hardening his rhetoric before nuclear negotiations resume this week.
Khamenei has supported the talks, but has continued to express deep mistrust of the US. As the highest authority in Iran, the withdrawal of his support could cause the negotiations to collapse.
“They created the myth of nuclear weapons so they could say the Islamic Republic is a source of threat. No, the source of threat is America itself,” Khamenei said in comments cited by the semi-official Fars news agency.
“The other side is methodically and shamelessly threatening us militarily ... even if they did not make these overt threats, we would have to be prepared,” he said in an address to military commanders.
Iran and six world powers including the US reached a framework accord on Iran’s disputed nuclear program this month and are to resume negotiations in Vienna this week aiming to reach a final deal by the end of June.
Despite significant progress, the two sides still disagree on several issues, including how quickly international sanctions would be lifted under a final deal.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani arrived in Tehran yesterday on his first trip to Iran since taking office, with security questions likely to dominate talks after the Islamic State (IS) group claimed a massive suicide bombing.
The attack in the eastern city of Jalalabad killed 33 people on Saturday and wounded more than 100, the first such incident in Afghanistan for which IS has claimed responsiblity.
Ghani’s arrival on a two-day visit was announced by Iran’s official IRNA news agency. State television showed him and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at Saadabad Palace in Tehran, where top-level dignitaries are often welcomed.
Ghani, elected in September, was accompanied on the trip by his foreign minister and minister for oil and mines. Ghani has repeatedly raised the prospect of IS making inroads into Afghanistan, though the group that holds swathes of Syria and Iraq has never formally acknowledged having a presence in the country.
Saturday’s attack outside a state-run bank in Jalalabad was the worst to hit Afghanistan since November, mostly killing government officials who were drawing their salaries.
A person purporting to be an IS spokesman said in a call to AFP that the group was behind the bombing.
An online posting allegedly from IS made the same claim, which could not be verified.
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