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On Thursday, going beyond simple headlines in the Western press that the Supreme Leader had "condemned" or "slammed" the US over the nuclear issue --- we assessed the signals in Ayatollah Khamenei's statement.
We argued that the Supreme Leader was talking tough, calling on the West to prove its "honesty" in the next high-level talks in April. In particular, Ayatollah Khamenei was signalling that the US and European countries must acknowledge the Islamic Republic's sovereignty to enrich uranium --- before Iran made any commitment to suspend enrichment of 20% uranium and limit activities to 5% fuel.
We also noted,"Western media coverage...does not consider the possibility that Ayatollah Khamenei might be responding to American declarations in the last 72 hours condemning and 'slamming' Iran."
Ayatollah Khamenei's line --- we are taking a firm negotiating position, but we are pursuing technical talks next week and then the high-level discussions next month --- is reflected by Iranian officials and media this morning.
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