Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Iran would not negotiate with the United States as long as it was threatened, bluntly instructing President Donald Trump to “do whatever the hell you want,” Iranian state media reported on Tuesday.
Pezeshkian’s comments were made after renewed American pressure for negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program. “It is unacceptable for us that they issue orders and threats. I won’t even negotiate with you. Do whatever the hell you want,” he was quoted as saying.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reemphasized this position over the weekend when he declared that Tehran would not be coerced into negotiations. His comments came after Trump had acknowledged sending a letter calling on Iran to sit down and talk about a new nuclear deal.
Though Trump has signaled a willingness to make a deal, he has also re-imposed his “maximum pressure” policy, designed to economically isolate Iran and strangle its oil exports. In an interview with Fox Business last week, Trump described his strategy: “There are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal” to keep Tehran from getting nuclear weapons.
Iran has always denied to have pursued nuclear weapons. Nonetheless, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has indicated that Iran is “dramatically” elevating its enrichment of uranium to 60% purity, below the 90% required to produce weapons-grade material.
Tehran escalated its nuclear activities in 2019, a year after Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear agreement and reimposed stringent sanctions. The fresh pressure campaign has put additional strain on relations, making the possibility of diplomacy increasingly improbable.
