TEHRAN – Iranian President Masudo Pezeshkian has reiterated his country’s stance on meetings with the United States, saying that Tehran will not engage with Washington under any circumstances as long as President Donald Trump maintains sanctions and threatens Iran with military action.
“If negotiations are made with dignity and based on mutual respect and shared interests, we will sit down and speak,” Pezeshkian said at a meeting of the Iranian Entrepreneurial Forum in Tehran on Tuesday, adding, “But the language of threat and coercion is absolutely unacceptable.”
The president pointed to the recent encounter between Voldy Mee Zelensky in an oval office where Ukrainian leaders have been criticized multiple times in front of the camera by Trump and his vice president, JD Vance. Zelensky was asked to say “thank you,” admitting that Ukraine had “no card” and “respect” the Americans after sought security guarantees in a potential ceasefire agreement with Russia. Reports say he was subsequently kicked out of the White House.
“We have to maintain our relationship with the world. We don’t want to be estranged or argued with anyone, but that doesn’t mean that we will humiliate ourselves before anyone else,” explained Pezeschkian. “It’s not acceptable for someone to come along and say, ‘Don’t do this, don’t do it.’ I won’t come to negotiate with you. Do whatever you want. ”
Since Trump unilaterally withdraws from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Action Plan (JCPOA), an Iranian nuclear deal, in 2018, he has been calling for new negotiations with Iran on the nuclear program. After abandoning the JCPOA, Trump re-ordered sanctions that were lifted under the agreement, launched a “maximum pressure” campaign, attempting to dismantle not only the entire Iranian nuclear program, but also the majority of missile and drone programs and alliances with local resistance groups.
Pezeshkian, who took office as Iranian president in July, was less severe about his meeting with the US compared to his conservative rival, Saeed Jalili. However, since Trump renewed his biggest pressure campaign in February, Pezeshkian has also struggled to negotiate potentially, and Ali Khamenei, who reflected the sentiment of leaders of the Islamic Revolution, said his speech with the US was “unwise, unintentional and dishonorable.” He also said that because of “bullying”, negotiations are a way of impose requests rather than finding a real solution.
That rating appears to be correct as Trump threatened to “bomb hell from Iran” if he didn’t sign the deal he wanted.
Analysts point out that Iranians are increasingly distrustful of the United States, and Trump’s continued, strengthened, aggressive policies are only making the situation worse.
Earlier this month, Trump announced that he had written a letter to Ayatollah Khamenei. Esmail Bakaei, a spokesman for Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the letter was given to the official letter of Anwar Mohamed Ghagash, who visited Tehran on Wednesday.
It remains uncertain whether Ayatollah Khamenei will accept the letter. In 2019, the leader refused to accept a letter from Trump delivered by then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo ABE. Considering the lack of changes in US policy, a similar rejection is possible.