Iran’s supreme leader said on Friday that negotiations with America “are not intelligent, wise or honourable” after US President Donald Trump floated nuclear talks with Tehran.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also suggested that “there should be no negotiations with such a government,” but stopped short of issuing a direct order not to engage with Washington.
His remarks upend months of signals from Tehran to the United States that it wanted to negotiate over its rapidly advancing nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of crushing economic sanctions worth billions of dollars.
The Ayatollah’s remarks to air force officers in Tehran appeared to contradict his own earlier remarks in August that opened the door to talks.
However, the 85-year-old has always been careful with remarks about negotiating with the West. That includes balancing the demands of reformists within the country who want the talks against hard-line elements within Iran’s theocracy, including the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
He noted that Mr Trump unilaterally withdrew from the earlier nuclear deal under which Iran drastically limited its enrichment of uranium and overall stockpile of the material, in exchange for crushing sanctions being removed.
“The Americans did not uphold their end of the deal,” the Ayatollah said. “The very person who is in office today tore up the agreement. He said he would, and he did.”
He added: “This is an experience we must learn from. We negotiated, we gave concessions, we compromised — but we did not achieve the results we aimed for. And despite all its flaws, the other side ultimately violated and destroyed the agreement.”
It is not clear what sparked his remarks. However, they come after Mr Trump suggested he wanted to deal with Tehran, even while signing an executive order to reimpose his “maximum pressure” approach to Iran on Tuesday.
“I’m going to sign it, but hopefully we’re not going to have to use it very much,” Mr Trump said from the Oval Office. “We will see whether or not we can arrange or work out a deal with Iran.”
“We don’t want to be tough on Iran. We don’t want to be tough on anybody,” Mr Trump added. “But they just can’t have a nuclear bomb.”
Mr Trump followed with another online message on Wednesday, saying: “Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED.
“I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper,” he wrote on Truth Social. “We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed.”
Mr Trump did not elaborate.
As recently as Thursday, Mr Pezeshkian suggested Iran could open itself up to even more inspections from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“They (can) come and inspect 100 times more since we are not supposed to go after” a nuclear weapon, Mr Pezeshkian told foreign diplomats.
Iranian diplomats for years have pointed to the Ayatollah’s preachings as a binding fatwa, or religious edict, that Iran will not build an atomic bomb.
Iran long has insisted its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. However, it now enriches uranium to 60% purity — a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
Iranian officials increasingly suggest Tehran could pursue an atomic bomb.
US intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons programme, but has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so”.
Earlier in the week, Mr Trump also said that displaced Palestinians in Gaza could be permanently resettled outside the war-torn territory and proposed the US take “ownership” in redeveloping the area into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
While not directly linking Mr Trump’s comments on Gaza, the Ayatollah appeared to be referencing them in his remarks as well.
“The Americans sit, redrawing the map of the world — but only on paper, as it has no basis in reality,” he said.
“They make statements about us, express opinions and issue threats. If they threaten us, we will threaten them in return. If they act on their threats, we will act on ours. If they violate the security of our nation, we will, without a doubt, respond in kind.”
