ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s supreme leader on Friday said it is “unwise” to negotiate with the United States, days after US President Donald Trump said he would be open to making a new nuclear deal with Tehran.
“Some pretend that if we sit at the negotiating table, a certain problem will be solved, but the reality that we must understand correctly is that negotiating with America has no effect on solving the country's problems,” said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
On Wednesday, Trump restored his “maximum pressure” policy that authorizes sanctions with the goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon or expanding its missile program.
Trump said that he hopes the document will be rarely used and that he is open to working out a deal, but warned that Tehran is “too close” to a nuclear weapon.
During his first tenure in office, Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that saw Tehran agree to curb its nuclear enrichment program in exchange for much-needed relief from crippling sanctions.
Since the US withdrew from the deal in 2018, Iran has significantly increased its nuclear program, but has said it does not pursue a weapon.
“The US violated the same treaty despite its flaws and withdrew from it. Therefore, negotiating with such a government is unwise, unintelligent, and dishonorable, and should not be negotiated with,” Khamenei said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the maximum pressure strategy a “failed experience” on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Washington announced sanctions on an international network it said was facilitating Iranian oil sales to China in order to fund Iran’s armed forces.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei hit back at the new sanctions on Friday, calling them an “illegal” move to prevent “Iran’s legitimate trade.”
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