Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ruled out negotiations with the U.S. under threats, telling former President Donald Trump to “do whatever the hell you want,” according to Iranian state media on Tuesday.
“It is unacceptable for us to be given orders and threatened by the U.S. I will not engage in talks with you. Do whatever you want,” Pezeshkian was quoted as saying.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reiterated on Saturday that Tehran would not succumb to pressure, following Trump’s claim that he had sent a letter urging Iran to negotiate a new nuclear deal.
Despite expressing openness to a new agreement, Trump has reintroduced the “maximum pressure” strategy from his first term, aiming to cut Iran off from the global economy and reduce its oil exports to nearly zero.
Speaking to Fox Business last week, Trump stated, “There are two ways to deal with Iran: militarily, or by making a deal” to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Iran has consistently denied pursuing nuclear weapons. However, the IAEA has warned that Tehran is significantly accelerating uranium enrichment, reaching levels of up to 60% purity—close to the 90% threshold needed for weapons-grade material.
Iran ramped up its nuclear activities in 2019, a year after Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers and reimposed sanctions that severely impacted Iran’s economy.
