Iran’s supreme leader appears more active as talks continue: US’s Rubio

Addressing US lawmakers, Rubio said Tehran has agreed to discuss previously off-limits aspects of its nuclear programme.

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei appears to be taking a more active role as negotiations between the two countries continue following an April 8 truce.

Testifying before the US’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, Rubio said there are signs that Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen publicly since US air strikes killed his father and predecessor on the first day of the war, is alive and more deeply engaged in the country’s affairs.

“I think there are indications out there that he is increasingly engaging at some level, although all of his communications have been in writing and through intermediaries,” said the US’s top diplomat.

Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency cited a source close to the country’s negotiating team as saying Tehran is still studying the latest proposal and has not communicated with the US in several days. The official stressed Iran was taking a “stern” approach given what it sees as US non-compliance with the ceasefire and general mistrust.

Trump has said his priorities for any deal include Iran agreeing to never develop nuclear weapons and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies transited before the war.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump disputed reports that talks with Iran had paused, saying “conversations between us have been going on continuously”. “Where they lead, one never knows, but as I told Iran, ‘It’s time, one way or another, for you to make a Deal’,” wrote Trump in his Truth Social platform.

Addressing lawmakers, Rubio said the US talks with Iran may now include “aspects of their nuclear programme” the country was unwilling to discuss as recently as a month ago.

However, “that is not a guarantee it will ultimately lead to a deal that’s acceptable,” Rubio cautioned.

“There is the prospect before us, which could happen today, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week,” he added.

Rubio, who also serves as Trump’s national security adviser, said the first condition in the talks was that Iran opened the Strait of Hormuz, and it also had to commit to negotiations on its stock of highly enriched uranium.

Asked whether the US would lift sanctions on Iran in return for the country reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Rubio said that would not be sufficient.

“That’s not been discussed. That’s not been offered,” said Rubio, adding that sa