TEHRAN, June 24 : Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei restated his red lines for a nuclear deal with world powers in a sudden intervention on Tuesday after discord surfaced between his government and lawmakers.
Khamenei, who will have the last word for Iran in its talks with the West, stepped in hours after Iran's parliament passed a bill on the country's nuclear programme which a vice president said could complicate the final leg of the long-running negotiations.
The move by lawmakers exposed tension between President Hassan Rouhani's administration and lawmakers in Tehran, where hardliners routinely voice doubt about the merit of talking to the West.
With obstacles remaining just one week until the June 30 deadline for a nuclear deal, Khamenei outlined his demands at a top level meeting that included Rouhani and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president's hardline conservative predeccessor.    ?AFP