Tehran, Mar 8 (EFE).- Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei Saturday rejected a talks offer, a day after US President Donald Trump said he had sent him a letter urging him to engage in dialogue.
“The insistence of some abusive governments to engage in negotiations is not aimed at resolving problems, but rather at imposing their dominance and imposing their demands,” Khamenei said in an apparent reference to Trump’s calls for negotiation.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will undoubtedly not accept your demands,” the highest political and religious authority of Iran said during a meeting in Tehran with high-ranking officials of the government.
Trump Friday said he sent a letter to the Iranian supreme leader, urging him to negotiate a new nuclear deal.
In an interview with Fox Business, Trump noted that Iran could “be handled” either militarily or through a deal.
“I would prefer to make a deal because I am not looking to hurt Iran. They are great people. I know so many Iranians from this country,” the US president said.
“We can make a deal that would be just as good as if you won militarily.”
He said he had written a letter, hoping Iran was going to negotiate “because if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing for them.”
Khamenei had previously rejected talks with Washington. In February, he dismissed negotiations with the US, calling them “unwise, unintelligent, and dishonorable.”
Iran and the US had signed a nuclear agreement in 2015 under then President Barack Obama, but Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 during his first term.
Since returning to the White House on Jan 20, Trump has imposed crippling sanctions against Iran, including on its oil network, as part of the so-called “maximum pressure” policy. EFE
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