Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Reddit Email Print
Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rejects U.S. negotiations in a staged speech before regime loyalists – March 12, 2025
Two-minute read
In a defiant speech on March 12, the Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei categorically rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s offer for negotiations, exposing his deep fear that any diplomatic engagement would threaten the survival mechanisms of his regime. Labeling Trump’s overture as a “deception of global public opinion,” Khamenei insisted that Iran will not engage in talks under pressure, warning that war is not a “one-sided issue.”
The speech was delivered before a carefully handpicked crowd of the regime’s loyalists, deceptively introduced as “students” to create the illusion that the regime still holds sway among Iran’s younger generation. Behind Khamenei, a displayed slogan read,“There’s no treasure more profiting than knowledge,” a veiled reference to the regime’s relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons capability, reinforcing its defiant stance against international demands for disarmament.
Khamenei’s rhetoric made it clear that he sees any dialogue as a direct threat to his grip on power. He claimed, “Negotiation with this U.S. administration will not lift sanctions. It will only make the knots of the sanctions tighter and increase the pressure.” He also dismissed the idea that Iran would yield under American military threats, stating, “If an action is taken, we will decisively respond.”
🚨 Khamenei rejects President Trump's offer of negotiations.
Amidst fears of a resurgent uprising within Iran and with staggering losses in Syria and Lebanon, Khamenei clings desperately to his nuclear ambitions.
CC: @MikeWaltz47 @StevenCheung @SecRubio @tedcruz @RichardGrenell pic.twitter.com/qvxSqThDBB
— M. Hanif Jazayeri (@HanifJazayeri) March 13, 2025
His speech came in response to Trump’s recent remarks in an interview with Fox Business, where the U.S. president revealed that he had sent a letter to Khamenei expressing Washington’s willingness to negotiate over Iran’s nuclear program. Trump warned that Iran had “two choices: negotiate or face war.”
Khamenei, however, brushed aside these remarks as an attempt by the U.S. to portray itself as the side seeking peace while painting Iran as unwilling to negotiate. He sneered at Washington’s claims, arguing, “This means that we [the U.S.] are open to negotiation, that we want talks and peace, but Iran refuses. When we already know they won’t honor their commitments, why should we negotiate?”
The regime’s Supreme Leader also lashed out at the broader international pressure campaign against Tehran, accusing Western nations of hypocrisy. “The world’s bullies say that everyone must submit to us and put our interests above their own,” he claimed. “Iran is the only country that has decisively rejected this.”
#Khamenei Rejects U.S. Talks, Fears Concessions Will Crumble His Regime in #Iranhttps://t.co/Ev7k87roJS
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) March 8, 2025
Despite Khamenei’s dismissive tone, Iranianofficials confirmed just hours after his speech that the Trump administration had indeed delivered a letter through an intermediary. Iranian regime’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced that the letter had been received via Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic advisor to the President of the United Arab Emirates.
With Khamenei clinging to his rhetoric of defiance, the Iranian regime remains deeply divided and increasingly vulnerable. The Supreme Leader’s fear of negotiations stems not from strength but from the certainty that entering into talks would strip him of the mechanisms of survival that have kept his regime afloat: repression, external belligerence, and ideological rigidity. As economic pressures mount and domestic unrest grows, the cracks within the clerical establishment will only widen, making Khamenei’s bluster appear increasingly hollow.