US threats of military action to Iran over nuclear deal ‘unwise’, says Ayatollah Khamenei
ByHT News Desk
Mar 12, 2025 11:34 PM IST
The Iranian supreme leader said that negotiations will not get the US sanctions removed from Tehran, but would rather tighten their knots and increase pressure.
Amid the rising tensions over negotiating a nuclear deal, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday said that the US' threats of possible military action if Tehran refused talks were "unwise".
(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on March 9, 2025 shows US president Donald Trump (L) had recently written to Iran, urging it to negotiate a new nuclear deal. (AFP)
(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on March 9, 2025 shows US president Donald Trump (L) had recently written to Iran, urging it to negotiate a new nuclear deal. (AFP)
"The US is threatening militarism. In my opinion, this threat is unwise. Iran is capable of retaliating and will definitely inflict a blow," Khamenei said in a meeting.
His remarks came in the backdrop of local media reports that said the foreign minister Abbas Araghchi had received US President Donald Trump's letter, which was delivered by senior UAE official Anwar Gargash, an AFP report said.
Trump's letter aimed at 'deceiving public opinion'
Khamenei, who said that he had not yet personally seen the letter, termed Trump's letter as a move to "deceive public opinion". He said that the reason as to why Iran is not willing negotiate with the US is that the same American president "tore up the signed JCPOA agreement. How could we hold negotiations with US when we know they don't fulfill their commitments?"
ALSO READ | ‘Do whatever the hell you want’: Iran president to Donald Trump over nuclear deal negotiations
During his first term, Trump had ditched Tehran's 2015 nuclear pact with six world powers and reimposed sanctions that obstructed Iran's economy.
And since returning to the White House for a second term, the US president has called for a new nuclear deal with Iran, while reinstating his "maximum pressure" sanctions to isolate Tehran from the global economy and drive down its oil exports towards zero.
Khamenei, in a series of posts on X, noted that if the goal of negotiating a new deal with the US meant that the sanctions would be removed then, he clarified, it won't result in the sanctions being actually lifted.
"It (negotiating) will cause the knot of sanctions to become tighter and pressure to increase," he added.
ALSO READ | Iran's Khamenei on Donald Trump's military action threat: ‘Some bully govts’
The Iranian supreme leader exuded confidence in saying that if Tehran wanted to build nuclear weapons, then the US would not have been able to stop it from doing so. However, "the fact that we neither possess nor seek nuclear weapons is because we ourselves don't want to".
Khamenei, who holds the final decision in any state matter, said that though Iran was not looking to start a war but, "if someone takes action, our response will be decisive and certain".
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