As negotiators from Iran and the world's major powers rush to strike a comprehensive nuclear deal, concerns have again emerged over a speech by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This time last year, concerns emerged over Khamenei’s statement that Iran sought an eventual enrichment capacity of 190,000 Separative Work Units (SWU), even as the Iranian supreme leader refrained from offering a clear time frame for such plans.

In reaction to a speech by Khamenei in Tehran earlier this week, many journalists and political analysts have interpreted the Iranian leader’s remarks, particularly on sanctions — a key stumbling block in the talks— as undercutting his own negotiators. Specifically, focus has been on Khamenei’s assertion that “the economic, financial and banking sanctions, whether related to the [UN] Security Council or the US Congress or the US administration should be lifted immediately when the agreement is signed” and that “the removal of sanctions is not tied to the implementation of Iran’s commitments.” These comments have been construed as Khamenei stiffening Iran’s “red lines” and seeking unilateral Western concessions as early as next month.

Khamenei, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Atomic Energy Organization of Iran chief Ali Akbar Salehi have all made the exact same remarks about sanctions relief following the April understanding on the political framework of a final nuclear deal.

Moreover, unless Khamenei’s remarks are put in the context of his speech as a whole, and the terms he used about a potential agreement are sufficiently defined, it's easy to misread what was said. In the same vein as his comments on Western penalties, Khamenei asserted that “the lifting of sanctions has different phases of implementation and we accept this,” adding that “implementation of the lifting of sanctions should be in line with the implementation of Iran’s agreed commitments.”