Iran supreme leader optimistic though nuclear talks stalled

Iran's supreme leader on Tuesday insisted negotiations over Tehran's tattered nuclear deal "are going ahead properly," even after repeated comments by American officials that an agreement to restore the accord may not happen.

The comments by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a meeting with hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi's administration marking the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, offered his endorsement of their "faithful and diligent" efforts.

But restoring the deal remains in question, apparently over Iran's demand that its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard be delisted by America as a terrorist group.

Khamenei made a point to praise the country's foreign minister and negotiating team, something that he had grown sour on under the government of previous President Hassan Rouhani, who attended the event Tuesday night in Tehran as well.

"There is nothing wrong with criticizing and commenting on their performance, as long as it is free from suspicion and pessimism and, as I have said many times, does not weaken the elements of the field and disappoint the people," Khamenei said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

Khamenei and other officials have referred to the Guard and its expeditionary Quds Force as "the field" in the past.

He added that the West had faced a "deadlock" since then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018.

"So far our negotiation team has resisted before the other party's excessive demands and, God willing, (that resistance) will continue," Khamenei said.

However, lead U.S. negotiator Rob Malley has said in recent days that a deal is "not just around the corner and is not inevitable." That's been repeated by other American officials since...