By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Saturday that negotiating with the United States will not solve Iran’s problems, described such negotiations as “neither wise nor honorable,” according to the official news agency IRNA.
Khamenei said at a meeting with senior Iranian military commanders that Iran’s past experience in negotiations with the United States had shown that it led to no meaningful results.
“Even when we made concessions, we did not achieve the desired outcomes. They tore up the agreement and failed to honor their commitments,” he said.
On US threats to Iran’s security, Khamenei stressed that Iran would respond firmly to any of such threats. “If they violate our national security, we will retaliate without hesitation,” he stated, media reported.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said it is not difficult to ensure that Iran will not pursue nuclear weapons, provided that “objective guarantees” are given to end hostile actions against Tehran, including economic sanctions.
He made the comments on social media platform X, responding to remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump who reaffirmed his stance of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and announced the restoration of the “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the meeting at the White House, Trump signed a national security memorandum restoring maximum pressure on Iran, “denying Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon, and countering Iran’s malign influence abroad.”
Araghchi criticized the “maximum pressure” as a failed approach, reiterating that its continuation would only result in “maximum resistance” from Iran.
He emphasized that “wise leaders should opt for maximum diplomacy instead,” added that Iran, as a full member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and other global nonproliferation agreements, has already made it clear that under no circumstances will it seek, develop or acquire nuclear weapons.
Iran signed a nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with 6 world powers in July 2015, accepted restrictions on its nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions.
Trump’s first term of office, the United States withdrew from the agreement in May 2018 and reinstated sanctions, prompted Iran to scale back some of its nuclear commitments.
The efforts to revive the JCPOA have not achieved substantial progress.
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