Rouhani: Khamenei’s Stance on US Talks Might Shift

Former Iranian president Hassan Rouhani attends meeting with Ali Khamenei in Tehran (file photo/Khamenei’s website)
Former Iranian president Hassan Rouhani attends meeting with Ali Khamenei in Tehran (file photo/Khamenei’s website)
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Rouhani: Khamenei’s Stance on US Talks Might Shift

Former Iranian president Hassan Rouhani attends meeting with Ali Khamenei in Tehran (file photo/Khamenei’s website)
Former Iranian president Hassan Rouhani attends meeting with Ali Khamenei in Tehran (file photo/Khamenei’s website)

Former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani suggested on Saturday that the Supreme Leader’s opposition to negotiations with the United States could change depending on circumstances, describing the situation in Iran as “dangerous.”
“Leader (Ali Khamenei) is not opposed to negotiations on the nuclear program, his position is influenced by the current circumstances, but after a few months, he may agree to negotiate under different circumstances,” Rouhani said during a meeting with former ministers.
“Did we not negotiate with the US on Iraq, Afghanistan, and the nuclear deal? Even back then, the Supreme leader was a witness and an observer,” the former President added.
Iran’s Big Losses
Rouhani then listed his country’s financial losses from the non-implementation of the nuclear deal.
He said since the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018, “Iran has lost $100 billion per year.”
Rouhani described the situation in the country as “dangerous,” especially with “a weakened military deterrence capability, which deepened after internal disputes prevented the purchase of advanced defense systems.”
The former president then criticized the disorder of Iran's decision-making system in various fields.
He said, “Anyone who looks from the outside understands what is happening in this country, and sees that we seem to have no plan at all.”
Rouhani also said that solving Iran's economic problems is not possible without constructive engagement with the world, according to a video posted on his website.
The video featured Mohammad Javad Zarif, who recently resigned from his post as deputy to President Masoud Pezeshkian, due to pressure from the conservative current in the Iranian parliament.
Earlier, Zarif said he negotiated with the US side on Iraq in coordination with former Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Qassem Soleimani.
On February 7, Khamenei said talks with the US were “not smart, wise, or honorable,” days after US President Donald Trump said he would “love to make a deal” with Iran.
His remarks were interpreted as orders to ban any direct talks with the US President.
Meanwhile, head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian Parliament, Ebrahim Azizi, said there was “no point in holding talks with the US unless Iran’s interests are achieved.”
“Tehran does not reject the principle of dialogue and negotiation. But we should avoid any steps that do not serve our interests,” he said.
For his part, Ali Larijani, member of the Expediency Discernment Council, said US officials have two options with dealing with Iran. “Either to respect the shared economic interests, or fall into the trap of thinking that confrontation with Iran will be of low cost,” he said, according to Tasnim, the semi-official news agency associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Russian Mediation
In Moscow, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s Permanent Representative to international organizations in Vienna, said he had discussed Iran’s nuclear program with Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“[I’ve] met today with IAEA Director General Mr. Rafael Mariano Grossi. We discussed a number of issues related to the Iranian nuclear program,” the Russian diplomat wrote on X.
Russia’s decision to act as an intermediary between the United States and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program reflects a conviction at the Kremlin that new ties with the Trump administration would allow both sides to lay the groundwork for a more comprehensive deal.

 



NASA's Stuck Astronauts are Finally on their Way Back to Earth after 9 Months in Space

In this photo provided by NASA, Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station's Harmony module and Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 13, 2024. (NASA via AP)
In this photo provided by NASA, Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station's Harmony module and Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 13, 2024. (NASA via AP)
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NASA's Stuck Astronauts are Finally on their Way Back to Earth after 9 Months in Space

In this photo provided by NASA, Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station's Harmony module and Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 13, 2024. (NASA via AP)
In this photo provided by NASA, Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station's Harmony module and Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 13, 2024. (NASA via AP)

NASA’s two stuck astronauts headed back to Earth with SpaceX on Tuesday to close out a dramatic marathon mission that began with a bungled Boeing test flight more than nine months ago.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams bid farewell to the International Space Station — their home since last spring — departing aboard a SpaceX capsule alongside two other astronauts. The capsule undocked in the wee hours and aimed for a splashdown off the Florida coast by early evening, weather permitting.

The two expected to be gone just a week or so after launching on Boeing’s new Starliner crew capsule on June 5. So many problems cropped up on the way to the space station that NASA eventually sent Starliner back empty and transferred the test pilots to SpaceX, pushing their homecoming into February. Then SpaceX capsule issues added another month’s delay.

Sunday’s arrival of their relief crew meant Wilmore and Williams could finally leave. NASA cut them loose a little early, given the iffy weather forecast later this week. They checked out with NASA’s Nick Hague and Russia’s Alexander Gorbunov, who arrived in their own SpaceX capsule last fall with two empty seats reserved for the Starliner duo.

“We'll miss you, but have a great journey home,” NASA's Anne McClain called out from the space station as the capsule pulled away 260 miles (418 kilometers) above the Pacific.

Their plight captured the world’s attention, giving new meaning to the phrase “stuck at work.” While other astronauts had logged longer spaceflights over the decades, none had to deal with so much uncertainty or see the length of their mission expand by so much.

Wilmore and Williams quickly transitioned from guests to full-fledged station crew members, conducting experiments, fixing equipment and even spacewalking together. With 62 hours over nine spacewalks, Williams set a new record: the most time spent spacewalking over a career among female astronauts.

Both had lived on the orbiting lab before and knew the ropes, and brushed up on their station training before rocketing away. Williams became the station's commander three months into their stay and held the post until earlier this month.

Their mission took an unexpected twist in late January when President Donald Trump asked SpaceX founder Elon Musk to accelerate the astronauts’ return and blamed the delay on the Biden administration. The replacement crew’s brand new SpaceX capsule still wasn’t ready to fly, so SpaceX subbed it with a used one, hurrying things along by at least a few weeks.

Even in the middle of the political storm, Wilmore and Williams continued to maintain an even keel at public appearances from orbit, casting no blame and insisting they supported NASA’s decisions from the start.

NASA hired SpaceX and Boeing after the shuttle program ended, in order to have two competing US companies for transporting astronauts to and from the space station until it's abandoned in 2030 and steered to a fiery reentry. By then, it will have been up there more than three decades; the plan is to replace it with privately run stations so NASA can focus on moon and Mars expeditions.

Both retired Navy captains, Wilmore and Williams stressed they didn’t mind spending more time in space — a prolonged deployment reminiscent of their military days. But they acknowledged it was tough on their families.

Wilmore, 62, missed most of his younger daughter’s senior year of high school; his older daughter is in college. Williams, 59, had to settle for internet calls from space to her mother. They’ll have to wait until they’re off the SpaceX recovery ship and flown to Houston before the long-awaited reunion with their loved ones.