Special to WorldTribune.com

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has forbidden future negotiations with the United States not only as a warning to Iran’s moderates, but in an effort to keep the nation’s disenchanted youth in line.

Khamenei, who issued the ban on Oct. 7 in a speech to Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, is engaged in an all-out effort to keep American cultural influence from reaching young people in Iran who are tired of Islamic edicts and isolationism.

The supreme leader even repeated his comments on his English-language Twitter feed.

“An important part of the activities of the enemy is to change the calculations of officials and to manipulate people’s revolutionary and religious thoughts,” Khamenei said. “Young people are the main target, and they must be alert.”

Over 60 percent of Iran’s population is under the age of 40.

Khamenei said the reason he instituted the ban on talks with the U.S. is that Washington “took any chance to infiltrate” Teheran during the nuclear talks. The “Iranian side was vigilant, but they gained chances and acted against our national interests.”

In his Oct. 7 address, Khamenei also blasted the U.S. for an air strike on a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, called a “mistake” by the Pentagon, that killed 22 civilians.

“They consider no value for human lives; they attack a hospital, murder tens of patients and simply say ‘sorry, it was a mistake!’ ” Khamenei said.

  Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ban on direct talks with U.S., Khamenei spooked by potential U.S. cultural influence on Iran’s youth, WorldTribune.com