Iran’s supreme leader pushes talks and missiles, not one or the other

Reporting from Tehran —  Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday pushed back against politicians and activists who favor talks with Western countries without displays of military might, saying the nation needs negotiations and missiles.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s most powerful figure, said those who oppose the country’s recent ballistic missile tests after last year’s agreement with the U.S. and five other world powers to roll back Iran’s controversial nuclear program are wrong, either out of ignorance or out of treachery.

“I am not against negotiation, but not with everyone,” Khamenei said in a speech posted on his website. “Those who say the day of tomorrow is not the time of missile are wrong either out of ignorance or out of treachery. Today is the time of negotiation and missile at the same time.”

Khamenei, who has supported President Hassan Rouhani’s efforts to improve relations with the West, appeared to be addressing comments such as those made by former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who recently tweeted, “The day of tomorrow is not the day of missiles but negotiations.”

The supreme leader has tried to ensure that the nuclear deal and other efforts to end the Islamic Republic’s isolation and improve an economy long weakened by sanctions do not go too far in influencing Iranian society.

Rouhani, who has said the nuclear deal is a “new chapter for dealing with international community,” is under pressure to limit the rapprochement within what is dubbed by Khamenei as a resistance economy, which calls for reducing the nation’s vulnerability to sanctions.

The moderate Rouhani is expected to try to work to pass at least some new policies with more cooperative lawmakers after a setback for hard-liners in February’s parliamentary elections, and with many seats held by independents or still available in runoff elections to be held in late April.

Mostaghim is a special correspondent.