Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei listens to the national anthem as Air Force officers salute during their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 7, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

Iran’s so-called “supreme leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Friday rejected the idea of negotiating with the United States, calling the idea “unwise” and “dishonorable” while rebuffing US President Donald Trump’s comments earlier this week calling for Washington to reach a “nuclear peace agreement” with Tehran.

“Negotiations with the US will have no impact on solving the country’s problems. We must understand this in the right way,” Khamenei was quoted by Iranian state media as saying to air force personnel in Tehran at an event marking the anniversary of Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution. “We should not think that if we sit at the negotiating table with that government, this or that problem will be solved. No, negotiations with America will not solve any problem.”

Khamenei cited the “experience” of the 2015 agreement negotiated between Iran, the US under the Obama administration, and several world powers — which placed temporary restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions — to argue that talks with Washington would be fruitless.

“The same person who is in office now tore up the treaty,” he said, referring to Trump’s decision during his first presidential term in 2018 to withdraw the US from the accord and reimpose crippling sanctions on Iran. “We made lots of concessions, but Americans failed to hold up their end of the bargain.”

“The agreement was meant for America’s sanctions to be removed. They were not removed,” said Khamenei, the top decision-maker in Iran’s Islamist regime. “Negotiating with such a government is unwise, unintelligent, and dishonorable, and there should be no negotiation with it.”

The Iranian leader also threatened Washington about “violating” Iran’s security, saying, “We will retaliate with no hesitation.”

Khamenei’s comments came after Trump on Wednesday denied that the United States and Israel are planning to carry out a military strike on Iran, saying he instead wants to reach a “nuclear peace agreement” with Tehran as Iranian officials suggested differences over the Islamist regime’s nuclear program could be resolved.

“I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon. Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

It was unclear to which reports Trump was referring. In recent weeks, many analysts have raised questions over whether Trump would support an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which both Washington and Jerusalem fear are meant to ultimately develop nuclear weapons.

“I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper,” he continued. “We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!”

Trump’s social media post came one day after he signed a presidential memorandum restoring his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

As he signed the memo, Trump expressed a willingness to talk to the Iranian leader but added Tehran was “too close” to a nuclear weapon and “cannot” have one.

Later on Tuesday, Trump said that he would “love” to make a deal with Iran to improve bilateral relations — but added that the regime should not develop a nuclear bomb.

Iran has claimed that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes rather than building weapons. However, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reported in December that Iran had greatly accelerated uranium enrichment to up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90 percent weapons-grade level, at its Fordow site dug into a mountain.

The UK, France, and Germany said in a statement at the time that there is no “credible civilian justification” for Iran’s recent nuclear activity, arguing it “gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”

While it’s unclear whether Trump will be able to renegotiate a new nuclear deal, at least some Iranian officials have expressed a willingness to engage in diplomacy — before Khamenei’s latest comments.

“The clerical establishment’s will is to give diplomacy with Trump another chance, but Tehran is deeply concerned about Israel’s sabotage,” a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday. The official added that Iran wanted the US to “rein in Israel if Washington is seeking a deal” with the Islamic Republic.

Iranian officials, including top leaders, routinely declare their intention to destroy Israel.

During Friday’s meeting, Khamenei emphasized that Iran is open to negotiations with other countries except the United States and Israel.

“Of course, we don’t count the Israeli regime as an exception — because that regime is not a government to begin with and is rather a criminal and land-usurping gang,” he said.

Iran is the chief international backer of Hamas, providing the terrorist group with weapons, funding, and training. According to media reports based on documents seized by the Israeli military in Gaza last year, Iran had been informed about Hamas’s plan to launch its Oct. 7, 2023 invasion of and massacre across southern Israel months in advance.