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Irans supreme leader declared Tuesday that the nations enemies had failed to bring the Islamic Republic to its knees, as advocates and critics of a nuclear deal hastened to put their spin on the latest extension of negotiations with world powers.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaking a day after negotiators in Vienna agreed on a seven-month extension of the nuclear talks, boasted that Iran was standing tall against a bullying West.

The United States and European colonialist countries gathered and applied their entire efforts to bring the Islamic Republic to its knees but they could not and they will not, Khamenei told a gathering of clerics in the capital, Tehran.

The supreme leader did not explicitly endorse the extension, maintaining a characteristic aloofness, but it was not necessary for him to do so. Irans negotiating team would not have agreed to further talks without approval from Khamenei, who has the final say on matters of state policy.

The supreme leader, analysts say, has positioned himself skillfully to avoid any political fallout, deal or no deal. He has publicly backed the negotiations but expressed deep reservations about a satisfactory result, while always appealing to Iranians sense of pride.

Since the extension has his imprimatur, conservatives who had previously denounced the notion of continuing talks beyond the deadline were obliged to accept the new timetable, while voicing doubts that any final deal would ever emerge. Many here view the talks as part of a broader, U.S.-led scheme to weaken and ultimately overthrow Irans government.

There is almost no doubt that, given Americas current stance, it will be very difficult to reach an agreement to which both sides remain committed, wrote Hassan Mohammadi, a conservative analyst who urged officials to reveal what humiliation the U.S.A. is trying to impose on the Iranian people.

While the talks involve Iran and six nations the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany the key players are Washington and Tehran.

Unresolved are a number of core issues, including the scope of Irans future nuclear program and the timetable for lifting economic sanctions against Iran. Tehran insists its nuclear efforts are strictly for peaceful purposes, while Washington and its allies suspect a covert effort to produce atomic weapons.

Hard-liners here made much of what they labeled the pernicious influence of Saudi Arabia and Israel, close U.S. allies and regional archenemies of the Islamic Republic. Many Iranian commentators view Israel and Saudi Arabia as working hard behind the scenes to torpedo any realistic accord, even though neither nation is a party to the talks.

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Iran's supreme leader boasts nation is standing tall on nuclear issue