Senior FM advisor: Supreme Leader has final call on US talks

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Nov. 23 – A senior advisor to Iran’s foreign minister has silenced whispers of Iran's hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seeking talks with the US, by reiterating that any such talks will be decided upon by the Supreme Leader solely. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Nov. 23 – A senior advisor to Iran’s foreign minister has silenced whispers of Iran's hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seeking talks with the US, by reiterating that any such talks will be decided upon by the Supreme Leader solely.
 
"The negotiation with the US is not possible without the permission by Imam and the Leader, and any kind of talks with the US must be permitted by the Supreme Leader. … No Iranian President or Foreign Minister has had or will have the permission to act on establishment of relations with the US", the state-run news agency Fars quoted Manouchehr Mohammadi as saying at a round table forum held at Tehran’s Amir Kabir University on Sunday.
 
Earlier this month, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ended speculation regarding potential talks with the US in a speech in which he stated that negotiating with the Obama administration would be "naive and perverted".
 
As Iran maintains a defiant stance over its nuclear weapons program, having rejected out of hand a deal put forward by the P5+1 states, the overtures of the Obama administration remain spurned by the Iranian authorities.