By Parisa Hafezi
(Reuters) – President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would not negotiate with the United States when threatened and told President Donald Trump to “do whatever you want,” Iranian state media reported on Tuesday.
“For us, it is unacceptable for them to give orders (the United States) and make threats. I won't even negotiate with you. Do whatever you want.”
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Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Tehran would not be bullied for negotiations, following Trump's statement that he sent a letter urging Iran to urge Iran to negotiate on a new nuclear deal.
Trump resumed the “maximum pressure” campaign he proposed during his presidency in his bid to separate Iran from the global economy and reduce its oil exports to zero.
“There are two ways to deal with Iran: military, or you reach an agreement to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” Trump said last week in an interview with Fox Business.
Iran has long denied developing nuclear weapons. However, the IAEA warned that this is a “sharp” acceleration of uranium enrichment to 60% purity, close to about 90% weapon-grade levels.
Iran has accelerated its nuclear efforts since 2019, after which President Trump abandoned Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal and re-implemented sanctions that undermine the country's economy with six world wars.
(Other reports by Jaidaa Ahmad, written and reported by Parisa Hafezi; edited by Hugh Lawson)
