Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says ‘negotiating with America is neither smart, wise, or honourable’.
Iran hit out at the United States for imposing new sanctions against its oil industry, as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned against mooted talks with Washington.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran on Friday condemned the sanctions, announced the previous day, as “illegitimate and unlawful,” the official IRNA news agency reported.
“The decision of the new US administration to exert pressure on the Iranian people by preventing Iran from conducting legitimate trade with its economic partners is an illegitimate and unlawful action,” spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said.
Iran “holds the United States responsible for the consequences and repercussions of such unilateral and bullying actions”, he added.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei later remarked that negotiation with the US is “not smart, wise or honourable”.
US President Donald Trump suggested earlier this week that he plans to raise the pressure on Iran and then reach a “verified nuclear peace agreement”.
During his previous term in office in 2018, Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 pact between Iran and world powers designed to control Tehran’s nuclear capabilities, and reimposed harsh sanctions.
Those measures prompted Tehran to violate the pact’s limitations.
“Negotiating with America is neither smart, wise, or honourable. It will not solve any of our problems. The reason? Experience!” Khamenei was quoted as saying on Friday, adding that Iran had made concessions in the past but the US “tore up” previous agreements.
He warned that if the US threatens Iran’s security, Tehran “will threaten [the US’s] security”.
The sanctions announced on Thursday were the first new ones to be levied on Iran since Trump returned to the White House.
The US president has promised to bring Iran’s crude exports to zero, declaring them part of the ambition to halt Tehran’s nuclear programme.
The measures target Iranian firms, ships and individuals affiliated with companies already sanctioned by the US. The individuals and tankers affected help ship millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil to China annually.
Germany, France and the United Kingdom have been holding diplomatic talks with Tehran in recent months in the hope of seeking a route towards resuming the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) pact that Trump unilaterally scuppered in 2018.
A senior Iranian official told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday that Iran is ready to give the US a chance to resolve disputes.
Iran has long rejected sanctions against its oil sector and views efforts to confiscate its exports as “piracy”.