Story highlights
Iran and six world powers reached a broad nuclear agreement in July
The U.S. Congress will vote on the the Iran deal no later than September 17
It appears the Iran nuclear deal doesn’t mark a new era of improved relations between Tehran and Washington.
Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the Islamic Republic “did not and will not hold talks with (the United States) on issues other than nuclear negotiations,” Iran’s Press TV reported.
“We agreed to hold talks with America only on the nuclear issue and for particular reasons, and thank God, our negotiators did a good job,” he said.
After months of talks, Iran and six world powers including the United States reached a broad agreement in July in which Iran agreed to curbs on its nuclear program, including invasive inspections, in exchange for a repeal of crippling sanctions. Congress will vote on the the Iran deal no later than September 17.
Any other cooperation between the United States and Iran is not going to happen, in Khamenei’s view.
“I have not authorized negotiations and (we) will not hold talks with them,” he said, warning against taking any comfort from Washington’s role in lifting the sanctions.
“Some people insist on disguising this Great Satan as the savior angel,” Khamenei said. “(However,) the Iranian nation expelled this Satan (from the country); we must not allow that when we expelled it through the door, it could return and gain influence (again) through the window.”
Former Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini often referred to the United States as the “Great Satan.”
CNN’s Larry Register contributed to this report.