World press on Iranian nuclear crisis (February 17, 2013)

The Washington Post published an article by Jason Rezaianb devoted to the ongoing Iranian nuclear crisis. "Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has reiterated the possibility of direct negotiations with the United States, although his statement was less enthusiastic than comments he made in Germany 10 days ago. In an interview with the semi-official Mehr News agency published Saturday, he basically said that it’s up to the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to decide whether Iran will talk," the article begins.

"I read this, like Ahmadinejad’s speech last Sunday, as trying to bring Khamenei back into the dialogue as the decider. We should fully expect more developments on this leading up to the planned multi-nation talks in Kazakhstan on February 26," the author writes.

"It seems as if Iranian officials know they need to start talking but want to make the supreme leader more of a focal point. And this seems in line with the idea that Khamenei wants progress but doesn’t want a deal until after the June presidential election," he concludes.