A letter from President Trump was delivered to Iran by the UAE on Wednesday, an offer for negotiations that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said was a “deception” meant to create the impression that the US was the reasonable party and that Tehran refuses to negotiate.
Khamenei and other Iranian officials have repeatedly rejected the idea of talks with the Trump administration in the face of increasing US sanctions and threats of potential military action. Last week, when Trump discussed the letter in an interview, he warned that “there are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal.”
Khamenei said one reason Iran was unable to negotiate with President Trump was the fact that during his first administration, he withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA.
“So why do we refuse to negotiate? This same person tore up the JCPOA,” Khamenei said. “How can we negotiate with this person? In negotiations, one must be sure that the other party will fulfill their commitments. When we know that they will not keep their word, what’s the point?”
Trump wants a deal on Iran’s nuclear program even though he’s acknowledged that Iranian leadership doesn’t want a nuclear bomb. The US also wants to impose restrictions on Iran’s conventional weapons and its relationship with its allies in the region, ideas Khamenei rejected over the weekend.
“They will be about defense capabilities, about international capabilities of the country. (They will urge Iran) not to do (certain) things, not to meet some certain people, not to go to a certain place, not to produce some items, your missile range should not be more than a certain distance. Is it possible for anybody to accept these?” Khamenei said on March 8.
Last year, Khamenei expressed an openness to direct talks with the US, saying there was “no harm” in engaging with the “enemy.” He made the comments shortly after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was sworn in.
Pezeshkian vowed during his campaign to engage directly with Western countries in an effort to get sanctions relief, and Khamenei’s comments appeared to give him the green light to pursue the idea. But since Trump re-imposed his “maximum pressure campaign,” both Khamenei and Pezeshkian have discouraged the idea of negotiations with the US.
On Tuesday, Pezeshkian strongly rejected the idea of talks. “It is unacceptable for us that they give orders and make threats. I won’t even negotiate with you. Do whatever the hell you want,” he said.
