Mojtaba Khamenei backs direct US talks, warns Iran is not going to yield to ‘enemy’ | World Information
Iranian Supreme Chief Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on Thursday endorsed direct negotiations with america, in a press release delivered through textual content message learn on Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB, marking his first public response to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed a day earlier by President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to finish the battle between the 2 international locations.
Khamenei confirmed he had authorised the settlement regardless of holding a distinct view on the deal, saying Trump had “out of desperation, resorted to varied types of stress and leverage to result in this end result.”
The total textual content of the message of Imam Sayyid Mojtaba Khamenei, the Chief of the Islamic Revolution, addressing the Iranian nation relating to the Memorandum of Understanding between the presidents of Iran and America, June 18, 2026 pic.twitter.com/9nSD2NfkVe
— Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei (@MKhamenei_ir) June 18, 2026
He mentioned he authorised the settlement in mild of a dedication given to him by President Pezeshkian, in his capability as head of the Supreme Nationwide Safety Council, to safeguard the rights of the Iranian nation and the “Resistance Entrance,” and given his “specific acceptance of accountability for doing so.”
Iran would now, Khamenei continued, “await the fulfilment of the circumstances which have been acknowledged” within the settlement.
Khamenei later posted an English-language model of his assertion on his official X account.
He additionally explicitly acknowledged that if the American facet seeks to make extreme calls for, they won’t undergo them. From this second on, we—that’s, you, the proud nation, and this humble servant—will await the belief of the aforementioned circumstances.
— Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei (@MKhamenei_ir) June 18, 2026
‘Not accepting the enemy’s place’
Khamenei’s endorsement got here with a pointed caveat. He mentioned that any future face-to-face negotiations with Washington would “not imply accepting the enemy’s opinion,” in what analysts described as a shift in Iran’s posture.
Nonetheless, it is self-evident that the in-person negotiations sooner or later is not going to imply acceptance of the enemy’s place. We hope the blessed prayers of our Grasp (might God hasten his noble reappearance) will deliver every kind of victories & triumphs to honorable Iranian nation.
— Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei (@MKhamenei_ir) June 18, 2026
The framing was vital. As just lately as February 2025, Khamenei had dismissed direct negotiations with Washington as neither “clever, clever, nor honourable,” and had declared that participating america wouldn’t resolve Iran’s issues. Thursday’s assertion represented a marked departure from that place, even when the rhetoric retained its attribute wariness.
In the meantime, France 24 reported that Vali Nasr, professor of Center East research at Johns Hopkins College and a former adviser to the US State Division, mentioned the battle was “ending in Iran’s favour” and that “the end result is certainly not beneficial to Israel.”
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Hormuz reopens as blockade lifts
Vice President JD Vance mentioned on Thursday that the US Navy had, as a part of the settlement, lifted its blockade on Iranian ports by permitting greater than a dozen ships to move via. Vance instructed reporters that greater than 12.5 million barrels of oil handed via the Strait of Hormuz in a single day the best quantity recorded because the battle started in late February.
A Trump administration envoy additionally instructed US lawmakers in a non-public briefing that Iran would invite the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the Worldwide Atomic Power Company (IAEA), to examine its nuclear websites, although this dedication was not mirrored within the printed textual content of the MoU.
Vance individually introduced he might postpone a visit to Switzerland deliberate for Friday, which had been supposed to incorporate a ceremonial signing of the MoU and to provoke the following spherical of negotiations between the 2 sides.
