Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Accuses President Biden And Trump Of Damaging US Reputation

JAKARTA - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused Joe Biden and Donald Trump of damaging the reputation of the United States, in a rare direct criticism of the US president, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported on Tuesday.

"Lately, the US has been hit in a way that is never calculated. The two American presidents, current and former heads of state, have joined hands to tarnish the image of the United States," Khamenei said without elaborating.

Last June, Khamenei said Iran needed real action, not just promises to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

"I have told our negotiators that action, not promises, is necessary for the restoration of the nuclear deal," he said.

Meanwhile, in March 2021, Khamenei had said Iran did not trust the United States' promises regarding the nuclear deal, until Washington fully lifted sanctions against Iran.

"We trusted America under (former President Barack) Obama and fulfilled our commitments. But they didn't. America says on paper, sanctions will be lifted. But in practice they don't lift sanctions," Khamenei said at the time.

"Their promises have no credibility for us. On paper they say sanctions are lifted, but they tell any company that wants to sign a contract with us, this is dangerous and risky. They scare investors," Khamenei stressed.

Iran and the United States resumed indirect talks in Vienna on Tuesday to revive the 2015 nuclear deal that Washington abandoned under the Trump administration in 2018.

While the US State Department says such negotiations are entering their "last extension", Iranian officials have maintained that some of their demands for the removal of sanctions have so far not been discussed in the Vienna talks.

Both sides said they were waiting for a final political decision from the other to revive the nuclear deal.

On Tuesday, Iran's top security official, Ali Shamkhani, warned on Twitter that "the road to negotiations will not be smooth" if the current US administration continues the maximum pressure campaign launched against Iran by Trump.