IRGC-affiliated paper defends Khamenei’s support for indirect US talks

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi in Muscat on Saturday ahead of the third round of indirect talks between Iran and the United States, Iranian state media reported.

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US President Donald Trump has realized he must distance himself from the rhetoric of coercion and domination, a senior Iranian official said on Saturday.

Ali Shamkhani, political advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and former secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, made the remarks in a commentary published in the government’s official daily Iran.

"Trump, despite his threats, has not resorted to military action against Iran," Shamkhani wrote. He said Trump was seeking to project strength at home after "failures" in Gaza, Yemen, Ukraine, and on economic issues.

"Trump has failed to secure victories in key dossiers and is now trying to preserve his administration’s self-assurance," he added.

Shamkhani said the talks underway in Muscat could mark a political turning point for Trump, while emphasizing Iran’s policy of combining resistance with active diplomacy.

"Iran has shown that just as it resists in the field, it also plays an active role in diplomacy," he said.

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Iran’s nuclear negotiating team lacks an economic expert, even though sanctions have inflicted major damage on the country’s economy, the Iranian economic daily Donyaye Eghtesad reported on Saturday.

"There is no report of any economic expert being part of Iran’s negotiating team against Witkoff," the daily said. "This comes despite the fact that the most serious harm during the sanctions period has been economic."

While Iranian officials have occasionally spoken about the economy and foreign investment opportunities, "there is no information suggesting even one economic advisor or sanctions specialist is part of the delegation," it added.

Deputy Foreign Ministers Majid Takht-Ravanchi and Kazem Gharibabadi are leading Iran’s technical delegation in the expert-level talks with the United States. The delegation also includes Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei, BRICS affairs director Kamal Dehghani, and nuclear deal expert Behzad Saberi among others, according to Donyaye Eghtesad.

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Negotiations with the United States could succeed if approached strategically, said the former senior advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and current head of Iran's Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences.

"Indirect negotiation can be a path to success and is not inherently a sham," Mohammad Javad Larijani told Farhikhtegan conservative daily on Saturday.

He cautioned Iranian officials against projecting weakness, arguing that desperation, not criticism, undermines Tehran’s position. "It is the logic of desperation that weakens us, not legitimate criticism," he said.

Larijani criticized past nuclear talks for yielding too much without ensuring verifiable steps from Washington and said that negotiating without verifying promises would risk Iran becoming, in his words, "America's dairy cow."

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The US President Donald Trump resembled "a sheep wearing a wolf’s mask," Iran’s ultra-hardline Kayhan newspaper, managed by a representative of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said on Saturday.

"Trump is addicted to empty boasts and is like a sheep that has put on a wolf’s mask," Kayhan wrote in an editorial.
"If America had even the slightest chance of success in its threats of military action against Iran, it would not hesitate for a moment."

The editorial said US threats were a cover for seeking concessions in negotiations, adding that Iran’s "proven strength" had deterred Washington from taking military action.

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