Iranian Leader Rules Out Nuclear Talks with US

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has ruled out the possibility of negotiations with the US over its nuclear program.

In his annual speech to air force commanders on Air Force Day, February 7, Khamenei emphasized the need to learn from “two years of negotiations, granting concessions, making compromises, yet achieving no results,” according to the khamenei.ir website.

He argued that despite its flaws, the US violated the very agreement it had accepted and later withdrew from it. He added, “Therefore, negotiating with such a government is neither rational, nor intelligent, nor honorable, and [we] should not engage in negotiations with it.”

Referring to statements made by US President Donald Trump about tearing up the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), during his previous presidency, Khamenei pointed out that even before Trump, the previous US administration, which had accepted the agreement, failed to adhere to it.

“The US sanctions that were supposed to be terminated were not terminated. And regarding the United Nations, they left a festering wound, a constant threat hanging over Iran,” he said.

Khamenei also threatened to retaliate if Iran were attacked by the US.

“If the Americans threaten us, we will threaten them. If they carry out their threat against us, we will carry out our threat. If the Americans attack the security of the Iranian nation, we will also attack their security without a doubt,” he stressed.

The Iranian leader’s remarks came amid speculation about potential talks with the US under President Trump as part of Iran’s nuclear negotiations with the West.

He had previously sent mixed signals about new negotiations under Trump, but his speech on January 28 was widely interpreted as an indication that he was open to talks. At the same time, he warned against the US’s “malicious nature and the hatred hidden behind diplomatic smiles.”

The Iran nuclear deal was designed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Under the agreement, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for relief from international sanctions. However, in 2018, the US, under the Trump administration, unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA and reinstated sanctions on Iran. This decision effectively destroyed the agreement, as Iran subsequently began to scale back its own commitments.

On February 4, President Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum restoring “maximum pressure on the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, denying Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon, and countering Iran’s malign influence abroad.” The order stated that the US would “implement a campaign aimed at driving Iran’s oil exports to zero.”

On February 6, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed its first set of sanctions on Iran after Trump announced he was reviving his maximum pressure strategy against Tehran. The US is sanctioning an international network facilitating the shipment of millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars to China.

Citing secret US intelligence reports, The New York Times reported on February 3 that a “secret” group of Iranian scientists was accelerating the adoption of a “cruder” method of nuclear proliferation that could take months, rather than a year, to develop.

Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, has consistently supported negotiations and, on February 6, reiterated Iran’s willingness to allow international inspections to verify its peaceful nuclear intentions.

“Therefore, verification that Iran is not seeking to make nuclear weapons is by no means a difficult task,” he said at a commemoration of the 46th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, attended by foreign ambassadors and representatives of international organizations in Tehran, according to Pezeshkian’s official website.

Referring to monitoring missions by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he added, “They have already visited and examined Iran’s nuclear activities and are welcome to conduct inspections a hundred times more.”

Pezeshkian also emphasized that, in line with a decree by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran considers the production of weapons of mass destruction religiously forbidden. “We want to build close and constructive relations with all countries,” he added.

In December, the IAEA’s Director General, Rafael Grossi, said that Iran is moving quickly toward obtaining a nuclear device, enriching uranium to near military grade, and refusing to cooperate effectively with the agency’s experts.

Iran’s economy has suffered under the sanctions reimposed by Trump during his first term. Faced with the economic pressures of international sanctions, Iran has pursued a “Look to the East” strategy, seeking stronger economic and political ties with Eastern powers such as China and Russia, rather than relying on the West.