President Barack Obama speaks briefly on Afghanistan

more images

Iran warns against US pressure in talks

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s supreme leader on Tuesday warned against the U.S. imposing its will on negotiations with Tehran.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s statements come as Iran is asking to modify a U.N. proposal for Russia and France to turn its uranium stockpile into nuclear fuel and allay Western fears over a possible weapons program.

“Whenever the U.S offers a smile, it hides a dagger in his back,” said Khamenei according to the state news agency. He rejected “talks in which the U.S. decides about its results in advance.”

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday in Marrakech that the U.N. nuclear deal could not be altered.

Khamenei’s statements came the day before annual anti-American demonstrations for the 30th anniversary of the 1979 storming of the U.S. embassy — traditionally a time for speeches slamming Washington.

The U.S. and its western allies fear that Iran’s nuclear program is geared toward producing a weapon, while Tehran maintains it is for peaceful purposes.

Khamenei said that even as the U.S. talks about negotiations with Iran, it is threatening it.

“American talk about negotiations on one hand but on the other they continue their threats and say how negotiations must reach their own desired conclusion.”

Khamenei also slammed what he called “the new U.S. president’s beautiful words,” which are not supported by deeds, referring to several messages directed by President Barack Obama to the Iranian people.

Khamenei, who has final say in all state matters, also urged the U.S. not to pin its hopes on the Iranian opposition, who are calling for better ties with the West, describing them as “few” and “naive.”

Even as Khamenei dismissed the opposition, however, a possible showdown is looming over Wednesday’s annual anti-U.S. demonstration as reformists have called for anti-government protests.

The demonstrations would be a display of resolve by the opposition against Ahmadinejad’s crackdowns since his disputed re-election in June, but authorities have said they will not tolerate any disruptions to Wednesday’s events.

The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency quoted the head of Tehran’s security forces, Gen. Ali Reza Alipour, as saying that police will use all their “power and capacity” to confront any demonstrators.

The government’s presentation of a united front toward the opposition belies splits among the conservatives as well. On Tuesday, the supreme leader’s protege, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clashed with his ostensible allies in parliament over cutting subsidies.

The president backtracked on plans to trim energy and food subsidies in the latest sign he remains weakened by the political rifts opened by the postelection turmoil.

“We will take back the bill,” Ahmadinejad said in comments broadcast on Iran’s state radio.

Iran’s president portrayed himself as a champion of the poor when he swept to power in 2005, promising to use the country’s oil wealth to eradicate poverty.

The sticking point in the bill was that the money saved from cutting the subsidies would go to a fund controlled only by Ahmadinejad’s administration, not parliament.