Iran’s supreme leader says “there will be no talks with the US at any level”

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Tuesday that "there will be no talks with the United States at any level." The statements would seek to end the rumors about a meeting between the presidents of the two countries at the United Nations later this month.

Khamenei said that this is the position of the entire leadership of the country and that "all the authorities of the Islamic Republic believe (this) unanimously," the Iranian state television station reported. The Iranian leader said the United States wants to demonstrate that its "maximum pressure policy" towards Iran is successful.

"In return, we have to show that this strategy means nothing to the Iranian nation," Jamenei added. "This is why all the Iranian authorities, from the president and the chancellor to everyone else, have announced that we will not negotiate (with the US) either bilaterally or multilaterally."

The rumors pointed to a possible meeting between the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and his Iranian counterpart, Hasan Ruhani, during the UN General Assembly that will take place later this month in New York.

The tensions that shake the Persian Gulf worsened after an attack over the weekend at major oil sites in Saudi Arabia. According to Washington, Iran was responsible for the incidents, but Tehran denies the accusations.

The crisis between the two countries began last year with Trump's decision to withdraw from the historic nuclear agreement signed in 2015 between Iran and the world powers. In addition, it reimposed and reinforced sanctions that left the economy of the Islamic Republic in free fall.

The attack on Saudi Arabia, which caused a fire at a crucial oil processing plant and oil field, was claimed by Yemeni Houthi rebels, allies of Iran and who are at war with a riad led by Riyadh trying to reinstate the Yemeni government recognized by the international community.

Khamenei also reiterated on Tuesday that if the United States returns to the nuclear agreement, Tehran would reconsider the negotiations. "Otherwise, the talks will not happen … with the Americans," he said. "Neither in New York nor anywhere else."

Oil supply

The US Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry, confided on Tuesday in Vienna that the world oil market remains well supplied despite the fall in production in Saudi Arabia after an attack on its refineries and reiterated that it is soon to resort to the Strategic Reserve of Oil (SPR).

"The president (Donald Trump) has told me that, if necessary, release oil from the SPR to compensate for possible (supply) interruptions. But seeing the supply data, we are confident that the market will remain well supplied," Perry said. in a meeting with a small group of journalists.

The head of the Department of Energy said that the current oil market is stronger than ten years ago, so it can face this situation in better conditions and makes it "less dependent on militia actions or as oil-rich countries, such as Iran. or Venezuela, "he said.

The US has reserves of 645 million barrels for emergencies, according to Perry, who said Saudi Arabia also has 188 million barrels in its inventory. According to his calculations, there are 1.5 billion barrels of oil in world reserves, an amount that, according to him, offers guarantees to the markets.

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