It's not us, it's the Chinese! Iran's supreme leader mocks Obama with letter warning some of the 'other' countries that signed his nuke deal 'are not trustworthy'
- Stunning jiu-jitsu move just 8 minutes after Obama's press conference has Ayatollah Khamenei cautioning Obama to watch the P5+1 nations carefully
- Most American critics of the nuclear bargain with Tehran charge that it's Khamenei who can't be trusted to hold up his end
- Russia, China, France, the UK, Germany and the European Union all inked the deal with the US and Iran
- Khamenei said Obama should be 'concerned about possible violation of commitments by the other parties'
- 'You are well aware that some of the six states participating in negotiations are not trustworthy at all,' he wrote in a letter posted on Twitter
Just eight minutes after President Barack Obama wrapped up a White House press conference he called on Wednesday to defend a day-old nuclear deal with Iran, the Islamic republic's supreme leader used Twitter to tweak him.
In a short letter to Obama that he posted on Twitter, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wrote that it's partner nations like China and Russia who should be watched carefully – not Iran – to make sure they honor the terms of the landmark bargain.
'You are well aware that some of the six states participating in negotiations are not trustworthy at all,' Khamenei wrote in a stunning rhetorical act of jiu-jitsu.
The agreement, signed by Iran, the U.S., Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and the European Union, seeks to limit Tehran's aggressive nuclear program in exchange for dropping a series of crippling economic sanctions.
CLEVER BOY: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme religious leader and the unofficial head of Tehran's government, tweaked Obama by warning him that the P5+1 nations can't be trusted to uphold the nuclear deal
IRONY: 'You are well aware that some of the six states participating in negotiations are not trustworthy at all,' Khamenei wrote in a stunning rhetorical act of jiu-jitsu. posted online just 8 minutes after Obama's press conference concluded
UPSTAGED: Obama held an hour-long press conference on Wednesday to defend his negotiated settlement with Iran, only to have the Ayatollah mock congressional worries that Iran can't be trusted
American opponents of the arrangement, which still has to earn approval from Congress, have complained that Iran can't be trusted to hold up its end by dramatically scaling back its uranium mining and processing, and starving for a decade what was thought to be a robust but covert nuclear weapons program.
Not so, says the Ayatollah: It's the Europeans, Chinese and Russians who have to be monitored.
The final text of the deal, he warned in an awkward tweeted English translation, 'needs careful scrutiny and must be directed into the defined legal process.'
And presuming Congress gives its 'approval,' Khamenei warned, Obama must 'be concerned about possible violation of commitments by the other parties' – 'and close paths to it.'
The religious mullah offered his hope that Iran will 'maintain unity and dignity so that national interests can be achieved in a peaceful and wisely atmosphere.'
Obama's press conference ran long, ending at 2:33 p.m.
Khamenei's tweet hit the Internet eight minutes later.
ROGUES GALLERY? Chinese Foreign MForeign ministers from China, France, Germany, the European Union, Russia and Britain joined their American and Iranian counterparts for a triumphant group portrait on Tuesday
Khamenei and his social media pranksters may have been responding to Obama's observation during his East Room presser that distrust of Tehran is the only legitimate basis on which his opponents might disagree with the deal's outcome.
'Really the only argument you can make against the verification and inspection mechanism that we’ve put forward is that Iran is so intent on obtaining a nuclear weapon that no inspection regime and no verification mechanism would be sufficient,' the president told reporters, 'because they’d find some way to get around it, because they're untrustworthy.'
'And if that's your view, then ... that means, presumably, that you can't negotiate,' he continued.
'And what you're really saying is, is that you've got to apply military force to guarantee that they don't have a nuclear program.'
Still, outraged Republicans and cautious Democrats protested after the deal was announced on Tuesday, saying Iran suffers from a trust deficit – making Khamenei's pronouncement a day later drip with irony.
Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn said in a statement that 'Iran has done nothing to demonstrate to the American people that we should trust them.'
He was joined by Maryland Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, whose bottom line was that 'there is no trust when it comes to Iran.'
Josh Block, the CEO of the Israel Project, a group that has fiercely denounced the Obama administration's decision to negotiate directly with Tehran, said Tuesday that 'to believe this is a good deal, you have to trust Iran.'
'The American people, and their lawmakers, rightly, do not.'
Oklahoma Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe added in a statement that Iran's record doesn't inspire confidence.
'I do not trust Iran who has been the leading state sponsor of terrorism for generations,' he said, 'and I have no faith that President Obama's deal will change the irrational and dangerous behaviors of Iran's government leaders.'
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