Iran Nixes Further Talks with U.S.

Lucy takes the football away, again: Iran’s Supreme Leader has reportedly banned any further talks with the United States. Politico has the story:

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei on Wednesday banned his country from any more negotiations with the United States, less than three months after Iran and six world powers reached a landmark agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program.

“There is a reason for our objection to negotiations with the U.S.; the U.S. engagement in talks with Iran means infiltration. They want to pave the way to impose themselves,” Khamenei was quoted as saying during a speech to Navy commanders from the hard-line Revolutionary Guards, according to the IRNA state news agency.

If this is a real statement of policy and not just rhetoric for the home folks, this is not good news for Secretary Kerry and President Obama. It would suggest that despite the nuclear deal, there’s no new relationship with Iran in sight. And it probably reflects Iran’s view that with the gains of the nuke deal pocketed, and the Russia alliance working brilliantly to limit U.S. options in Syria and Iraq, there’s not much to talk to the Americans about anyway.