Khamenei rejects negotiation with US in first speech after Trump's letter

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday ruled out the possibility of negotiation with the United States, in his first public speech after President Donald Trump said he sent a letter to him.

"The insistence of some bullying governments on negotiations is not aimed at resolving issues but rather at asserting dominance and imposing their demands," Khamenei said in a meeting with Iranian officials in Tehran.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will certainly not accept their demands," he added.

His comments followed Trump’s revelation that he had sent Khamenei a letter offering negotiations on Iran's nuclear program while warning that military intervention was the alternative.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday Tehran has not yet received Trump's letter to Khamenei.

Responding to Khamenei's rejection of Trump's call to negotiate a nuclear agreement, the White House on Saturday reiterated the US president's assertion that Tehran can be dealt with either militarily or by making a deal.

"We hope the Iran regime puts its people and best interests ahead of terror," White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement.

Lebanese pro-Iranian TV channel Al Mayadeen reported Saturday Tehran had refused to enter nuclear negotiations with the United States under the conditions set by the current US administration.

No talks on missile capabilities, regional influence

Khamenei said the West's issue is not just Tehran's nuclear program. "Rather, for them, negotiations are a means to raise new demands, including restrictions on defense capabilities and international influence."

"They set expectations such as 'Do not do this,' 'Do not meet with that person,' or 'Do not extend missile range beyond a certain limit.' These demands will certainly not be accepted or fulfilled by Iran."

While Tehran maintains that its ballistic missile program is purely defensive, the West considers it a destabilizing factor in a volatile, conflict-ridden Middle East.

'Shameless Europeans'

In his Saturday remarks, Khamenei also lashed out at European countries for criticizing Tehran's non-compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, calling them shameless.

"Those three European countries are issuing statements, claiming that Iran has not fulfilled its nuclear commitments under the JCPOA! Someone should ask them: Have you fulfilled yours? You never did from the very beginning!"

Khamenei said the E3 (France, Britain and Germany) promised to compensate after Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the nuclear deal in 2018, but they broke their promise.

"Then you made another claim and broke that second promise as well. There should be a limit to shamelessness! How can someone fail to uphold their own commitments and then turn around and accuse the other side of non-compliance?"

Iran's Supreme Leader said the Rouhani administration at the time tolerated for a year, then the Parliament stepped in and passed a bill that effectively blocked the revival of the deal.

"There was no other way. And now, the same holds true: There is no other way to stand against coercion and bullying," he added.

Holocaust denial

Khamenei further criticized what he called the Western double standards on the free flow of information, saying that no one can mention slain IRGC Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, or Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, "protest the crimes committed in Palestine and Lebanon, or deny what Hitler is claimed to have done to the Jews on Western-run social media."

The leaders of the Islamic Republic have a long history of Holocaust denial and Holocaust revisionism.

Iran's former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued a number of statements claiming The Holocaust as is commonly accepted is "a myth" and "a lie".

Former President Ebrahim Raisi also cast doubt on whether the Holocaust happened in a 2022 interview with CBS News.

On January 20, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution that condemned the denial and distortion of the Holocaust. Iran was the only country in the world that condemned and rejected the resolution.