TEHRAN – Iranian lawmakers on Tuesday lauded the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for his firm stance against the United States in a recent meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

In an open letter to the Leader, 210 members of parliament described Ayatollah Khamenei’s stance as a “display of dignity, wisdom and expediency,” Mehr reported.

They also condemned a Thursday attack on two oil tankers in the Sea of Oman, saying the impacts of Ayatollah Khamenei’s meeting with Abe angered those who are opposed to the region’s peace and security, and induced them to commit such an act.

Last week, Abe came to Tehran for the first time to meet Ayatollah Khamenei and President Rouhani. Abe said he was carrying a message from U.S. President Donald Trump.

In response, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “We have no doubts about your goodwill and seriousness, but with regard to what you relayed from the U.S. president, I see no merit in Trump as a person to deserve the exchange of any messages, and I do not have any answer for him and will not give him any either.”

The Leader said Iran has “no trust” in the United States and will not at all “repeat the bitter experience” from the negotiations that led to the conclusion of a 2015 nuclear deal, which Washington later ditched.

“Iran engaged in talks with the U.S. and the Europeans for some five or six years, and achieved a result. The Americans, however, breached a done deal,” said the Leader, emphasizing that no wise man would enter talks with a country that has reneged on all agreements.

MH/PA