US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he intends to negotiate a new nuclear agreement with Iran, while also imposing new sanctions on the country. In response, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei categorically rejected the idea of negotiations with Trump, calling them “neither rational nor honorable.” Khamenei pointed to the 2015 Vienna nuclear agreement, which the US under Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018, as an example of the futility of negotiations with the US.
Khamenei’s firm rejection of negotiations leaves little room for a swift de-escalation of the tense relations between Tehran and Washington, which have been strained for decades. The Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, had previously signaled his willingness to engage in direct talks with the US administration, but Khamenei’s stance seems to have shut the door on such a possibility for the time being.
Trump, on his social media platform, has expressed his desire for a diplomatic solution to the conflict with Iran, stating that he wants Iran to be a “great and successful country” that does not possess nuclear weapons. However, just a day earlier, Trump signed a memorandum to intensify the sanctions policy against Iran and announced a return to a “maximum pressure” approach against the country.