Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rejected the United States’ proposal for negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear programme, calling it a ploy to manipulate global opinion.
His remarks came as a letter from US President Donald Trump, urging Iran to enter talks, was delivered to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Trump recently confirmed that he had sent a letter seeking negotiations over a new nuclear agreement aimed at restricting Iran’s advancing programme. The letter was handed over on Wednesday by Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates.
During a meeting with university students, Khamenei dismissed the offer, arguing that past negotiations had already resulted in a comprehensive deal that the US later abandoned.
“We negotiated for years, reached a complete and signed agreement, and then this individual tore it up,” Khamenei stated, referring to the 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran and world powers.
“How can one negotiate under such circumstances? When we know they won’t honour their commitments, what is the point?”
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The 2015 deal limited Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. However, in 2018, during his first term in office, Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the agreement and imposed new economic sanctions. A year later, Iran began scaling back its compliance with the accord.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has expressed interest in renewed talks while reinstating his policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran.
Khamenei said negotiating with the Trump administration, which he said has excessive demands, “will tighten the knot of sanctions and increase pressure on Iran”.
Iran has consistently denied pursuing nuclear weapons.
“If we wanted to build nuclear weapons, the US would not be able to stop us. We ourselves do not want it,” Khamenei added.
However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported last month that Iran’s uranium stockpile enriched to 60% purity—just short of weapons-grade levels—has increased significantly.
With inputs from Al Jazeera