Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on Thursday that he approved a deal with the United States to end the Middle East war, even though he held a “different view”.
He made the remarks in a message read on state television. He did not give further details on his objections.
“In principle, I had a different view (about the memorandum of understanding), but I issued my permission due to the commitment that the honourable (Iranian) president, as the chairman of the Supreme National Security Council, gave me on behalf of himself and other members to protect the rights of the Iranian nation and the Resistance Front,” Khamenei said.
Khamenei has not been seen in public since he took office in March after the killing of his father and predecessor Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, which triggered the regional war.
The message marked his first response to the Iran-US deal to end the conflict, signed by US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Khamenei said Trump had “used all kinds of levers” to secure the agreement, which he described as driven by “desperation”.
He added that he received assurances from Pezeshkian that the deal would not be accepted if the US side made excessive demands.
He also said that future face-to-face negotiations would not mean accepting the enemy’s point of view.
