Donald Trump has called for talks with Tehran while simultaneously threatening it with military attacks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reaffirmed on 11 March Tehran’s position against negotiating with the US under threats and sanctions.
“We must have relationships with the world; we do not want to quarrel or fight with anyone, but we also will not bow down in humiliation before anyone,” the president said.
“To say to someone, 'We give you orders to do this and that, and if you don't do it, we will do this to you,’ is humiliating,” he went on to say. He also commented on the tense meeting recently between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. “What [Trump] did to that Zelensky is truly shameful.”
“We will die with dignity, but we will not live in disgrace. If negotiations are conducted with respect and based on mutual interests, we are willing to sit down and talk. However, the language of threats and force is absolutely unacceptable to us,” Pezeshkian stated.
“I personally will not sit with you, do whatever the hell you want,” he added, addressing Trump.
“My personal view is to engage in talks with everyone, including the US. But when the Supreme Leader said we will not negotiate, I adhered to that decision. We stand by the Supreme Leader’s position and will not deviate – he sets the course, and we must follow it,” Pezeshkian affirmed.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that Tehran will participate in a tripartite meeting soon with China and Russia regarding the nuclear issue with Washington. Moscow has recently offered to help facilitate US–Iranian negotiations.
He also commented on the UN Security Council meeting scheduled for 12 March, which was called by the US, France, Greece, and other nations and aims to Iranian uranium enrichment.
Araghchi called it “a new and strange matter, and raises doubts about the good intentions of those who called for it.”
He also said Iran has received no messages from Trump as of yet, but a letter “has been written” and will be delivered to Tehran via an Arab state “soon.”
Upon entering office, Trump signed an executive order reinstating his policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran, which Washington says aims to prevent Tehran from weaponizing its nuclear program and supporting “terrorism.”
Trump has mainly focused on cracking down on Iranian oil shipments.
Tehran has repeatedly blasted Washington for expressing a willingness to hold nuclear negotiations and, at the same time, resuming a full-fledged economic war against the country. Iran has been facing an economic crisis recently, causing its currency to plummet to a record low against the dollar.
“Some bully governments – I really don't know of any more appropriate term for some foreign figures and leaders than the word bullying – insist on negotiations. Their negotiations are not aimed at solving problems; they aim at domination,” Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on 8 March.
Trump said a day earlier that he sent a letter to Iranian leadership threatening them to negotiate or risk an attack on their nuclear program.
“I've written them a letter, saying I hope you're going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, it's going to be a terrible thing for them. There are two ways in which Iran can be handled – militarily, or you make a deal,” the president said on 7 March.
Tehran insists that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful, in line with a religious fatwa against weapons of mass destruction, as well as the fact that it is a signatory in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Yet it faces constant threats of attack from Israel. Reports from last month cited US intelligence estimates as saying that Israel is strongly considering strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, which could potentially come this year.
“We must have relationships with the world; we do not want to quarrel or fight with anyone, but we also will not bow down in humiliation before anyone,” the president said.
“To say to someone, 'We give you orders to do this and that, and if you don't do it, we will do this to you,’ is humiliating,” he went on to say. He also commented on the tense meeting recently between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. “What [Trump] did to that Zelensky is truly shameful.”
“We will die with dignity, but we will not live in disgrace. If negotiations are conducted with respect and based on mutual interests, we are willing to sit down and talk. However, the language of threats and force is absolutely unacceptable to us,” Pezeshkian stated.
“I personally will not sit with you, do whatever the hell you want,” he added, addressing Trump.
“My personal view is to engage in talks with everyone, including the US. But when the Supreme Leader said we will not negotiate, I adhered to that decision. We stand by the Supreme Leader’s position and will not deviate – he sets the course, and we must follow it,” Pezeshkian affirmed.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that Tehran will participate in a tripartite meeting soon with China and Russia regarding the nuclear issue with Washington. Moscow has recently offered to help facilitate US–Iranian negotiations.
He also commented on the UN Security Council meeting scheduled for 12 March, which was called by the US, France, Greece, and other nations and aims to Iranian uranium enrichment.
Araghchi called it “a new and strange matter, and raises doubts about the good intentions of those who called for it.”
He also said Iran has received no messages from Trump as of yet, but a letter “has been written” and will be delivered to Tehran via an Arab state “soon.”
Upon entering office, Trump signed an executive order reinstating his policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran, which Washington says aims to prevent Tehran from weaponizing its nuclear program and supporting “terrorism.”
Trump has mainly focused on cracking down on Iranian oil shipments.
Tehran has repeatedly blasted Washington for expressing a willingness to hold nuclear negotiations and, at the same time, resuming a full-fledged economic war against the country. Iran has been facing an economic crisis recently, causing its currency to plummet to a record low against the dollar.
“Some bully governments – I really don't know of any more appropriate term for some foreign figures and leaders than the word bullying – insist on negotiations. Their negotiations are not aimed at solving problems; they aim at domination,” Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on 8 March.
Trump said a day earlier that he sent a letter to Iranian leadership threatening them to negotiate or risk an attack on their nuclear program.
“I've written them a letter, saying I hope you're going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, it's going to be a terrible thing for them. There are two ways in which Iran can be handled – militarily, or you make a deal,” the president said on 7 March.
Tehran insists that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful, in line with a religious fatwa against weapons of mass destruction, as well as the fact that it is a signatory in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Yet it faces constant threats of attack from Israel. Reports from last month cited US intelligence estimates as saying that Israel is strongly considering strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, which could potentially come this year.
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