According to the Supreme Leader, Iran will not engage in negotiations under US “bullying.”
A day after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed to have written to Iran’s top leader asking Tehran to negotiate a nuclear agreement, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared on Saturday that Iran will not be coerced into talks.
Trump stated that “there are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal” in order to stop Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons in an interview with Fox Business.
Speaking to high-ranking Iranian officials, Khamenei claimed that Washington was trying to “impose their own expectations,” according to Iranian state media.
“The insistence of some bullying governments on negotiations is not to resolve issues…. Talks for them is a pathway to have new demands, it is not only about Iran’s nuclear issue…. Iran will definitely not accept their expectations,” Khamenei was quoted as saying, saying that Trump was not specifically mentioned.
White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes responded to Khamenei’s remarks by reiterating, nearly verbatim, the options of military force or diplomacy that Trump claimed to have offered Iran.
Hughes said, “We hope the Iran Regime puts its people and best interests ahead of terror,” in a statement.
Trump has reinstituted a “maximum pressure” campaign that was used during his first term as president to cut off Iran’s oil exports and isolate it from the world economy, even as he has indicated his openness to a settlement with Tehran.
Trump pulled out of a historic agreement between Iran and key powers that had imposed stringent restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear activity in exchange for the lifting of sanctions during his 2017–2021 term.
Iran violated and significantly exceeded the restrictions following Trump’s withdrawal in 2018 and the imposition of new sanctions.
As Tehran continues to speed up its uranium enrichment to almost weapons-grade levels, Rafael Grossi, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, has stated that diplomatic efforts to impose further sanctions on Iran’s operations are running out of time.
There is “no other way to stand against coercion and bullying,” according to Khamenei, who has the last say on Iran’s major policies.
“They are bringing up new demands that certainly will not be accepted by Iran, like our defence capabilities, missile range and international influence,” he was said to have stated.
The West views Tehran’s ballistic missile program as a destabilizing element in the unstable, war-torn Middle East, despite Tehran’s claims that it is solely defensive.
Amid growing tensions with the United States and Israel, Tehran has revealed major enhancements to its conventional arsenal in recent months, including its first drone carrier and an underground naval station.
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