The United States would have to end its support for Israel and withdraw its military presence from the region before any request for cooperation with Tehran could even be considered in the distant future, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Monday.
“Only if the United States completely cuts its backing for the Zionist regime, removes its military bases from the region, and ceases interfering in its affairs, their request for cooperation with Iran -- not in the near future but much later -- could be examined,” Khamenei said in a meeting with students in Tehran.
Marking the anniversary of November 4 US embassy takeover, known as Student Day in Iran, Khamenei described it as “a day of pride and victory” and said it should remain alive in the nation’s collective memory.
He said the 1979 takeover of the US embassy in Tehran had “exposed the true identity of the American government,” calling the embassy “a headquarters of plotting against the Revolution.”
On November 4, 1979, a group of students stormed the US Embassy in Tehran, taking Americans hostage for 444 days. This act ignited the new Islamic government’s anti-US stance and set Iran on a path of prolonged conflict with Washington.
The Leader rejected the notion that the embassy seizure began Iran’s dispute with Washington. “The differences between the Islamic Republic and America are not tactical but essential,” he said. “Some distort history and imagine that the slogan ‘Death to America’ caused this conflict – this is naïve.”
The United States’ nature was “imperialist and intolerant of independence,” Khamenei added.
“Every American president has demanded Iran’s surrender, even if they did not say it aloud,” he said. “The current president said it openly -- he revealed the true face of America. What does the surrender of a nation like Iran even mean?”
Back in June, President Donald Trump demanded Iran’s unconditional surrender and warned US patience was wearing thin.
The United States held five rounds of negotiations with Tehran over its disputed nuclear program under a 60-day deadline set by President Donald Trump.
When no agreement was reached by the 61st day, on June 13, Israel launched a surprise military offensive, followed by US strikes on June 22 targeting key nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow.
“I believe the enemy today neither has the power nor the conditions to begin a war,” Ali-Mohammad Naeini said in an interview with the podcast Story of the War on Sunday.
“They entered with maximal goals from the start. Now the question is, with what new motive or objective could they act again? When we speak of war, we mean the full-scale conflict that aimed to overthrow and divide the country.”
The problem for Iran’s adversaries, Naeini said, was not just weapons shortages but technological weakness. “Their real problem is the lack of advanced technology, inadequate air-defense systems, and limited technical knowledge,” he added.
“Even with what technology they possessed, they could not mount an effective defense, and there is still no sign of new strategic readiness that could improve deterrence or serve fresh objectives.”
Iran’s military readiness, he said, remains constant. “Preparations go on around the clock,” Naeini added. “From the youth of the Aerospace Force to ground units, the Basij, and senior commanders, everyone is in the field studying threats and developments.”
Response to Haniyeh assassination
Security officials, Naeini said, acted within hours of the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political chief, in a July 2024 Israeli strike on his residence in Tehran. “The National Security Council met immediately,” he said. “The conclusion was clear: a response was necessary.”
He said an investigation confirmed the strike was not internal sabotage. “A shoulder-launched missile entered through the window and struck while he was on a phone call,” Naeini said. “The attackers used his phone signal to locate and hit him.”
The follow-up operation, codenamed True Promise 2, he added, served both as retaliation and deterrence.
“That strike was not only a response to the assassination but also a boost to the regional deterrence posture and to the morale of our allies.”
Operations and missile strikes
The Guards, according to Naeini, conducted 22 waves of operations during the 12-day war. “We designed the campaign so the Israelis would continually experience going to their shelters,” he said.
“From the fifth to the eighth day, the battlefield superiority was absolute for us, and on the final day we enjoyed complete victory.”
Iranian forces downed at least 80 advanced drones and recorded 334 wrecks, he said. “These drones employed some of the world’s most advanced technologies,” Naeini added.
“Through cyber measures and short-range systems we neutralized those threats and restored relative air security.”
On June 23, 2025, the IRGC launched missiles at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in retaliation for US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.
“Fourteen missiles were launched; six hit the target,” Naeini said, adding that “about $111 million was spent by the US to counter them.”
Iran’s aim was deterrence, not escalation, Naeini maintained. “When we can force the enemy to its knees with our operational units, there is no need to widen the war.”
The 12-day conflict ended June 24 under a US-brokered ceasefire, but concern deepened as 400 kilograms of Iran’s highly enriched uranium remained unaccounted for.
Iran’s missile and drone power across all branches of the Guards “remains fully ready,” though “not all capabilities have been engaged, nor was there any need,” Naeini said.
“Messages are still being passed through various intermediaries, but this does not in any way mean the start of a negotiation process between Iran and the United States,” Baghaei said.
“No official message was conveyed to Iran during Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi’s trip to Oman.”
Takht-Ravanchi visited Muscat last week for a meeting of the Iran-Oman Political Strategic Committee, where he and Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi discussed regional developments and plans to expand bilateral cooperation, according to Iranian media.
Recent commentary about a restart of direct or indirect talks had been imprecise, Baghaei said, adding that Tehran has received no formal communication from Washington via Muscat and that shuttle efforts are limited to narrowing gaps.
Diplomacy, he added, remains active with neighbors and partners, including Oman, while any talks must respect Iran’s rights under international law.
IAEA must avoid ‘baseless repetition’
Baghaei called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to avoid repeating what he described as politically driven assertions about Iran’s nuclear program.
“The Director General has in fact reiterated that Iran’s nuclear activities have always been peaceful and there are no indications of a military dimension,” he said.
“The Agency should remain within its technical mandate and refrain from echoing unfounded claims made by certain parties only seeking pretexts.”
Iran suspended cooperation with IAEA inspectors after a 12-day war in June against Israel and the United States, codified via a new law passed by parliament.
Tehran’s cooperation with the Agency, he added, continues under its international commitments, but political manipulation of technical reports “undermines trust and objectivity.”
In September, Iran and the agency agreed in Cairo to restart inspections. However, after Germany, France and the United Kingdom triggered the reimposition of UN sanctions, it remained unclear whether Iran would comply.
A report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies said satellite imagery shows continued construction at a major underground nuclear facility near Natanz.
No conditions for talks with the US
Baghaei dismissed suggestions of an imminent resumption of negotiations with Washington, saying the environment was not yet suitable. “Whenever we reach the stage of negotiations, decisions will be made regarding the composition of the negotiating team and other details,” he said.
“But at present, the conditions for a meaningful dialogue are not in place.”
Iran, he said, would only enter talks that respected its rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“Our rights and interests must be respected… If the other side develops a realistic understanding and shows respect for Iran’s legitimate rights, then we can say conditions for meaningful dialogue will exist. At this stage, we are not there yet.”
Earlier this year, Washington and Tehran held five rounds of talks over Iran’s disputed nuclear program under a 60-day deadline imposed by President Donald Trump.
When the deadline expired without a deal on June 13, Israel launched a surprise military campaign, prompting US airstrikes nine days later on June 22 that hit major nuclear sites in Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow
‘US threats to Latin America condemned’
Baghaei also condemned what he described as US military threats toward Venezuela and other Latin American countries.
“We categorically reject the United States’ military movements in the Caribbean and Latin America,” he said. “Such actions are detrimental to international peace and security and have no legal justification.”
He cited international conventions that prohibit the use of counter-narcotics operations as grounds for violating sovereignty.
“Even under the 1988 convention on combating drug trafficking, there is a clear provision stating that such efforts cannot justify breaching national sovereignty,” Baghaei said. “The threats against Venezuela and others are legally and politically unacceptable and contradict the principles of the UN Charter.”
Baghaei said such behavior risked setting “a dangerous precedent” for international relations. “We are concerned that these actions could normalize interventions by other states elsewhere in the world.”
“They have no nuclear capability, no,” Trump said in a CBS 60 Minutes interview aired on Sunday, adding that he had “blasted the hell out of” Iran and praising US pilots for operations he said were conducted in Iranian airspace.
Trump said progress on Arab-Israeli normalization would have been impossible “if you had a nuclear Iran,” arguing that curbing Tehran’s capabilities was a prerequisite for any agreement.
He added, “You could’ve never had any kind of a deal if you had a nuclear Iran… And I blasted the hell out of ’em,” while also saying the United States halted operations, characterizing his decisions as calibrated to deter Tehran while preserving space for diplomacy. “We stopped,” he said. “When it was time to stop, we stopped.”
The president described Iran as wanting an agreement even if they don’t say it, and cast a potential understanding with Tehran as “the key to peace in the Middle East.” He did not outline new diplomatic proposals or timelines.
Iranian officials have long rejected US accusations about nuclear ambitions, saying enrichment and related activities support power generation and medical research. The International Atomic Energy Agency has previously urged Tehran to address questions about its program.
Trump’s remarks come as Washington and regional partners weigh next steps on containment and possible talks with Tehran amid intermittent back-channel messaging.
Tehran had received messages concerning the talks, Fatemeh Mohajerani, spokeswoman for President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration, said on Sunday, but declined to identify the sender or disclosing any further details.
“Details about the nature and content of the messages will be provided at the appropriate time,” she told reporters.
Her remarks came after the Iraqi news outlet Baghdad Al-Youm, citing diplomatic sources in Tehran, reported on Friday that a message transmitted to Muscat expressed Washington’s willingness to resume nuclear negotiations with the Islamic Republic.
The US president Donald Trump had expressed his determination to reach a new agreement with Iran, the report said.
However, Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, quoted an informed source on Saturday denying the report and saying that “no message has been sent by the United States through Oman.”
Oman and Qatar urge return to diplomacy
Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, speaking on Saturday at Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain, said his country hoped to return to negotiations between Iran and the United States. Oman has hosted five rounds of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington this year.
The planned sixth round in June, Al-Busaidi said, was halted after Israel’s attacks on Iran.
“Three days before the sixth round of talks was set to take place in June, Israel unleashed its bombs and missiles in an illegal and deadly act of sabotage,” he said.
The negotiations aimed at a new accord that would limit Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Western governments, including the United States, have accused Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, while Tehran insists its program is solely for peaceful purposes.
Qatari prime minister and foreign minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on October 29 that Doha was working to bring both sides back to a new agreement.
“We are trying to engage with the United States and with the Iranians to make sure that the talks come back on track between the two countries, because I believe once we have the talks started, we can achieve an agreement,” Al Thani said at an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York.
“We can achieve a deal that will be better for everyone. For us in the region, for Iran, and for the United States,” Al Thani said. “Iran is my neighbor... for me, the stability of Iran is key. It’s not a luxury... it’s very important.”
Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which had imposed strict limits on uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief. In September, the United Nations reimposed its arms embargo and other sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.
