Iran’s Supreme Leader addresses government officials, Tehran, May 14, 2019

In a rhetorical step back from confrontation, Iran’s Supreme Leader has said neither Tehran nor the Trump Administration wants war.

Ayatollah Khamenei issued the remarks in a Tuesday meeting with the President, Speaker of Parliament, head of judiciary, MPs, and other officials.

He struck a defiant pose against US sanctions which have added to Iran’s economic difficulties, as well as American moves of air and naval forces to the Persian Gulf and bases in Qatar.

The Iranian nation’s definite option will be resistance in the face of the US, and in this confrontation, the US would be forced into a retreat.

Neither we nor they, who know war will not be in their interest, are after war.

Tensions have risen further this week with sabotage of four ships, including two Saudi tankers, in the Gulf of Oman off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. Two drones attacked a Saudi pumping station, causing a fire, with the Iran-backed Houthi insurgency in Yemen claiming responsibility.

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While stepping back from rhetoric of war, Khamenei ruled out any negotiation with the US, saying Washington is trying to undermine Iran’s “points of strength” and regional influence.

There is no sign that Trump Administration hardliners such as National Security John Bolton, seeking regime change, want negotiations rather than the Islamic Republic’s capitulation. But Donald Trump, with his self-proclaimed image of the master of deals, said last week that he would welcome talks with the Iranian leadership.

“US Will Suffer Defeat”

Khamenei declared over his refusal of talks:

They say we should negotiate over your defensive weapons. Why do you build a missile with a given range? Reduce the range [of your missiles, they say, so you would not be able to hit our bases!

He insisted that US military capabilities — such as the carrier strike force and bombers nearing the Persian Gulf — did not match the Administration’s rhetoric, and claimed, “The control of many affairs rests in the hands of the Zionist society.

He concluded, “In [its] policy of confrontation with the Islamic Republic too, the US will definitely suffer defeat, and [the situation] will end up to our benefit.”

Success Through “Economic Mutation”

Khamenei is defying an economic crisis which President Hassan Rouhani says may be more extensive than during the 1980s Iran-Iraq War.

Iran’s official oil exports are down almost 60% since April 2018, amid comprehensive US sanctions last November. Production, investment, and trade are under pressure. Unemployment, especially among youth, is rising, and the currency is at a historically-weak level.

But the Supreme Leader, who has called for an Iranian year of “Pick-Up in Production”, insisted that the US sanctions would eventually bring the Islamic Republic’s success through an “economic mutation.”

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