Negotiations with US won’t end sanctions, will tighten them: Khamenei
Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei (L) speaks after casting his ballot during the runoff presidential election in Tehran on July 5, 2024, and US President Donald Trump (R) waves at supporters at the end of a campaign rally at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 4, 2024. (AFP Photo)
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that negotiations with the United States will not result in the removal of sanctions, but will instead intensify them.
Speaking at an annual meeting with university students in Tehran, Khamenei addressed ongoing discussions within Iran about the possibility of talks with the U.S. He rejected the idea, stating that such negotiations would not bring about positive outcomes for the country.
“I want to say that if the goal of negotiation is to lift sanctions, negotiating with this U.S. government will not lift sanctions,” Khamenei said. “It will tighten the knot of the sanctions, it will increase the pressure. Negotiating with this government will increase the pressure.”
Khamenei’s remarks came on the same day that Anwar Gargash, a senior Emirati diplomat and advisor to the president of the United Arab Emirates, arrived in Tehran to meet with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Gargash brought a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump for Khamenei, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
While the contents of the letter remain unconfirmed, sources suggest that Trump is seeking to resume negotiations with Iran in an attempt to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, possibly in exchange for restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump unilaterally withdrew from the landmark agreement in May 2018, prompting Iran to gradually increase its uranium enrichment from the 3.57% limit set by the deal to 60% purity.
Iran has engaged in indirect negotiations with the administration of President Joe Biden, mediated by the European Union. However, those talks have yet to result in a breakthrough as tensions persist.
In his comments, Khamenei acknowledged that while sanctions are not without effect, they are not the primary cause of Iran’s economic struggles. He also addressed U.S. claims regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions, asserting that if Iran had intended to develop nuclear weapons, the U.S. would not have been able to prevent it.
“The fact that we do not have nuclear weapons and are not seeking them is because we ourselves do not want them for certain reasons,” Khamenei said.
He concluded by emphasizing that Iran is not seeking war but warned that any “wrong move” by the U.S. or its allies would result in a “decisive and certain” response from Iran.
