(Reuters) – Qatar’s foreign minister said on Saturday in remarks cited by al Jazeera TV that the Iranian leadership expressed readiness for a compromise regarding “the Iranian nuclear file”, referring to talks over reviving a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
But Iran’s Foreign Ministry said remarks by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were mistranslated by error or by design for propaganda purposes, the semi-official news agency Tasnim reported.
The Qatari-based TV quoted Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani as saying that reaching common ground will boost stability in the Gulf region and help oil markets.
“Pumping additional quantities of Iranian oil to the market will help stabilize crude prices and reduce inflation,” the minister said.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh told Tasnim: “The Supreme Leader did not make any remarks about a compromise, but told the Emir of Qatar: ‘We have always said that negotiations should be productive and not a waste of time. The Americans know what to do regarding this.”
“It is clear from the context of the Leader’s remarks that (he meant) that the ball is in the court of the United States, which must make a wise political decision to fulfill its obligations,” Khatibzadeh said.
On Friday, the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani – who met Khamenei during a visit to Iran earlier in May – expressed optimism that an agreement between the United States and Iran could be achieved, voicing readiness to help in the matter.
Iran and the United States have held indirect talks over the past year to revive Tehran’s 2015 nuclear accord with world powers, but the negotiations have stalled.
Tehran has repeatedly said Washington should make a political decision to respect Iran’s “red lines”, which include taking the Revolutionary Guards off a U.S. terrorism blacklist.
(Reporting by Moaz Abd-Alaziz and Dubai newsroom; Editing by Frances Kerry and Nick Zieminski)
