Iran's Supreme Leader Criticizes US as Nuclear Talks Stall

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iran's supreme leader on Wednesday called the U.S. "stubborn" in stalled nuclear talks in Vienna for discussing Tehran's missiles and regional influence, likely signaling more trouble ahead for the negotiations.  

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's remarks came as his hardline protege, President-elect Ebrahim Raisi, is poised to be sworn in next week as the head of the country's civilian government.   While Raisi has said he wants to return to the nuclear deal, which saw Iran limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions, Khamenei seemingly called for a more adversarial approach in his remarks. The supreme leader also appeared to describe outgoing President Hassan Rouhani's eight-year government as naive for its approach in reaching the 2015 agreement — even as Rouhani and his Cabinet sat before him in a farewell meeting.  "Others should use your experiences. This experience is a distrust of the West," Khamenei said in remarks broadcast by state television. "In this government, it was shown up that trust in the West does not work."