Khamenei casts resistance as national creed

In a statement marking National Persian Language Preservation Day, the supreme leader said Iran “has demonstrated during the recent sacred defence [against the US-Zionist invasion] that Ferdowsi’s legendary tales are a reality of their lives and a reflection of their heroic character,” Al Jazeera reported. Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Valiant, Quranic concepts” in the epic poem Shahnameh by poet Ferdowsi “unite all Iranian ethnicities and social strata in preserving their identity, independence and in the battle against the ‘Zahhak-like’ aggressors”. At the same time, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile was currently not part of negotiations with the US, because discussions had reached an impasse on the issue. “The subject of our enriched material is a very complicated one. And we have now come to the conclusion with Americans that since it is very difficult, we are almost in a deadlock on this particular question, let’s postpone it to the later stages of our negotiations,” the foreign minister said at a press conference. “So, for the time being, it is not under discussion, it’s not under negotiation, but we will come to that subject in later stages.” He said he had “received messages” from the US, claiming it was willing to continue talks. “We received messages again from the Americans saying that they are willing to continue the talks and continue the interaction,” he said. Re