‘Don’t trust the enemy’: Iran’s Khamenei warns against expecting any lifting of US ‘hostility’ under Biden

Iran’s Supreme Leader has hit out at the US on his return to the public stage, claiming that Joe Biden’s accession to the American presidency is unlikely to see any change in Washington’s “hostility” towards Iran.

Speaking on Wednesday, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called again for US sanctions against Iran to be urgently lifted, but said he didn’t expect any changes under President-elect Joe Biden. 

“The hostility is not just from Trump’s America, which supposedly some could say would end when he leaves [office], as Obama’s America also did bad things to the Iranian nation,” he said, noting Biden’s role as Obama’s vice president. 

Demonstrating a similar ambivalence to the change in US administration as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani did earlier on Wednesday, Khamenei told government officials, “my firm recommendation is not to trust the enemy.” 

Iran’s top cleric crucially appeared to show some support for a revival of the nuclear deal – which Trump withdrew from in 2018 – which would see sanctions against Iran removed. 

“If the sanctions can be lifted, we should not delay even one hour... If the sanctions can be lifted in the right, wise... and dignified way, this must be done,” he asserted. 

Wednesday’s speech is the first time the Supreme Leader has appeared in public since rumors emerged in December suggesting Khamenei’s health was deteriorating. 

Earlier in the day, Rouhani told his cabinet that “we are not happy about Mr. Biden coming today, but we are definitely very happy that Trump is leaving,” while labeling the current US president “a terrorist.” 

“If there is any pressure on Iran today, it is from arrogance, which unfortunately still has a few weeks left in its government... and we are very happy that this tyranny was overthrown,” he added. 

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