The planned Iranian delegation to the negotiations in Pakistan was told not to address the nuclear issue during talks with the US, Iran International reported on Thursday, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.
According to the report, the order came from officials close to Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, as the negotiation team was preparing to depart.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran's Foreign Minister, said that the policy made the delegation's presence in Pakistan "basically useless," and called it a "death sentence" for the negotiations, and warned against adopting it, a source said.
Iran International also said that the Foreign Ministry's negotiation team was reprimanded for discussing the nuclear issue in previous rounds of talks with the United States.
Mojtaba Khamenei managing Iran through 'board' of IRGC commanders
Iranian politician Abdolreza Davari, who personally knows Khamenei and served under former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told The New York Times that Khamenei's form of leadership is as a "board director," appointing "board members" whom he trusts to "make all the decisions."
"The generals are the board members," said Davari, describing the collection of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders appointed by Khamenei to run Iran in the areas of defense and foreign affairs.
According to the NYT, Khamenei's form of leadership differs sharply from that of his father, Ali Khamenei, who ruled with full authority before being killed in an IDF airstrike at the beginning of Operation Roaring Lion.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.