Khamenei casts resistance as national creed
• Araghchi says uranium issue off the table for now • Pezeshkian seeks ‘strategic cooperation’ with Iraq • 11 Pakistanis, 20 Iranians being repatriated from US-seized ships, says Dar • Riyadh floats idea of non-aggression pact between Gulf nations, reports FT IRAN’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on Friday hailed the country’s “courageous resistance” as having strengthened Tehran and making it better prepared to confront the United Stated, as Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared the stockpile of enriched uranium was “not under negotiation”. In a statement marking National Persian Language Preservation Day, the supreme leader said Iran “has demonstrated during the recent sacred defence [against the US-Zionist invasion] that Ferdowsi’s legendary tales are a reality of their lives and a reflection of their heroic character,” Al Jazeera reported. Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Valiant, Quranic concepts” in the epic poem Shahnameh by poet Ferdowsi “unite all Iranian ethnicities and social strata in preserving their identity, independence and in the battle against the ‘Zahhak-like’ aggressors”. At the same time, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile was currently not part of negotiations with the US, because discussions had reached an impasse on the issue. “The subject of our enriched material is a very complicated one. And we have now come to the conclusion with Americans that since it is very difficult, we are almost in a deadlock on this particular question, let’s postpone it to the later stages of our negotiations,” the foreign minister said at a press conference. “So, for the time being, it is not under discussion, it’s not under negotiation, but we will come to that subject in later stages.” He said he had “received messages” from the US, claiming it was willing to continue talks. “We received messages again from the Americans saying that they are willing to continue the talks and continue the inter...
Original source: Dawn Pakistan