Iran's leader says country's future should not be tied to nuclear talks

Iran’s supreme leader said on Tuesday that his country’s future should not be tied to the success or collapse of nuclear talks with world powers, Iranian state media reported, adding that the negotiations to revive a 2015 nuclear deal “are going well”.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on all state matters such as Iran’s nuclear programme, made the comments about a month after almost a year of indirect talks between Iran and the United States stalled. Both countries blame each other for lack of “political will” to settle remaining issues.

“Absolutely do not wait for nuclear negotiations in planning for the country and move forward,” Khamenei told a gathering of senior officials, state TV reported.

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In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump left the nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy. A year later, Iran started to violate the limits imposed on its nuclear programme by the 2015 agreement to make it harder to develop a bomb. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful use only.