ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "has no objection" to American investments in the country, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday.
Khamenei “has no objection to American investors [accessing] the country. Investors should come and invest,” said Pezeshkian during a speech.
The Iranian president’s remarks came just a day after another top Iranian official expressed Tehran’s openness to allow American companies access to Iran’s economy.
In a rare op-ed published in The Washington Post, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday blamed “consecutive US administrations and congressional impediments” for keeping American businesses away from what he described as the “trillion-dollar opportunity” of access to Iran’s economy.
The noteworthy comments come as the United States and Iran are bracing themselves to hold high-level talks in Oman on Saturday, April 12, despite differing views on their nature.
US President Trump Donald Trump on Monday, underscored that “direct talks” between Washington and Tehran had already begun and “we are meeting very importantly on Saturday [April 12], at almost the highest level.”
“Maybe a deal [with Iran] is going to be made. That would be great,” Trump added.
Stressing that the US and Israel prefer a diplomatic solution over military confrontation with Iran, Trump additionally did not rule out military action against Tehran, stating that "if the talks aren't successful… I think Iran is going to be in great danger.”
Iran “cannot have nuclear weapons,” Trump stressed.
In his rare op-ed on Tuesday, the Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi stated that “under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons,” adding that his country views the recent exchanges with the US as “a genuine attempt” to “open a window toward diplomacy.
“Iran prefers diplomacy, but it knows how to defend itself,” Araghchi emphasized.
