Cotton Iran Letter Blowback...
Thom Hartmann shares newspaper editorials that disagree with the 47 Senators who signed Tom Cotton #39;s letter to the Iranian government. If you liked this clip of The Thom Hartmann Program,...
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Khamenei dismissed the letter as "part of their ploys and tricks," according to Iran's official state outlet, Press TV. The senators, who are highly critical of the deal being worked out, wrote the Islamic Republic to warn its leaders of Congress's role in approving and implementing any agreement.
Khamenei's comments came the day after Secretary of State John Kerry slammed the letter in a Senate hearing and said his reaction to it had been "utter disbelief." President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and other senior administration figures have also taken strong exception to the GOP move.
Khomenei's barbs Thursday didn't stop with the GOP senators, however, as he also lashed out at the world powers -- Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, as well as the U.S. -- sitting across the negotiating table from Iran.
"Of course, I'm concerned because the other side is into deception, trickery and backstabbing," Khamenei said, according to Press TV.
Kerry, who has been heavily invested in the process and will meet with his Iranian counterpart next week as talks enter the homestretch ahead of the deadline for a framework agreement, defended the administration's negotiating efforts at Wednesday's Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
He told the panel that the Republican letter was a breach of "more than two centuries of precedent" and factually incorrect.
"It purports to tell the world that if you want to have any confidence in your dealings with America, they have to negotiate with 535 members of Congress," Kerry said. "That is both untrue and a profoundly bad suggestion to make."
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut set Kerry up to address the letter, asking him to explain its impact, and Kerry took five minutes answering the question while glancing at what appeared to be prepared remarks.
READ: Hillary Clinton blasts Cotton Iran letter
As he wrapped up, Sen. Bob Corker, the committee chairman and author of legislation that would require Congress to approve any deal with Iran, cut Kerry off, ending what the senator called "a well-written speech."
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Kerry denounces GOP letter to Iran leaders - CNN.com
Story highlights Report: Iran's leader accuses world powers of "deception, trickery and backstabbing" in nuclear talks Ayatollah Khamenei also criticizes a letter sent by U.S. Republican senators to Iran
He also criticized a letter sent by 47 U.S. Republican senators to Iran's leaders, which threatened to scupper any deal if a Republican President is elected next year, Iran's official Press TV reported.
"Of course, I'm concerned because the other side is into deception, trickery and backstabbing," Khamenei is quoted as saying in a speech in Tehran.
He suggested that the letter was part of a U.S. strategy of last-minute reversal aimed at undermining a comprehensive deal covering Iran's nuclear ambitions, Press TV said.
"This is part of their ploys and tricks," said Khamenei.
Iran faces a March 24 deadline to reach a deal over its nuclear program. Several interim agreements have been made in recent months, though a long-term pact so far has been elusive.
The six world powers -- the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France, plus Germany, a group known as the P5+1 -- are seeking a deal that will ensure that Iran doesn't develop nuclear arms.
Officials in Tehran have publicly insisted they want a nuclear program for energy purposes, not to create atomic weaponry.
The Republican senators' decision to write to Iran's leaders has stirred up a political firestorm in the United States.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry denounced the letter Wednesday at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, calling it a breach of "more than two centuries of precedent" and factually incorrect.
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Iran attacks nuclear backstabbing