Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday rejected the idea of holding talks with the Trump administration, saying that experience had shown it was “not rational, intelligent, or honorable” to do so.
“Negotiations with America do not solve any of our problems,” Khamenei said in a speech Friday, according to the Iranian news agency, Tasnim.
Khamenei’s comments came after Trump on Wednesday indicated a willingness to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran “immediately.”
Days earlier, the President renewed his “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran, signing an executive order aimed at preventing it from obtaining nuclear weapons and eliminating its oil exports.
“We will see whether or not we can arrange or work out a deal with Iran,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“We don’t want to be tough on Iran. We don’t want to be tough on anybody,” he added, expressing a preference for “a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper.”
