Iran has rejected a renewed offer of talks from the United States, denying claims by US President Donald Trump that the country’s nuclear facilities were destroyed in an airstrike in June. In a statement, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Washington of “imposition and bullying”, claiming that any deal proposed by Trump was “predetermined”. Khamenei said such coercion undermines the very concept of negotiation, insisting Iran’s nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only. He also criticised Trump’s recent statements on Gaza, describing them as manipulative and false.
Tehran and Washington previously engaged in five rounds of indirect nuclear negotiations that ended with a 12-day conflict in June, during which Israel and the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites.
“Trump says he is a dealmaker, but if a deal is accompanied by coercion and its outcome is predetermined, it is not a deal but rather an imposition and bullying,” Khamenei said in a post on X.
Last week, Trump told the Israeli parliament that it would be ideal if Washington could negotiate a “peace deal” with Tehran, following a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
“The US president proudly says they bombed and destroyed Iran's nuclear industry. Very well, keep dreaming!” Khamenei said. “What does it have to do with America whether Iran has nuclear facilities or not? These interventions are inappropriate, wrong and coercive.”
Khamenei further claimed Iran was in the midst of a “soft war”, accusing Trump of trying to demoralise the Iranian population. “In a soft war, the enemy tries to make the people depressed and to lose all hope of their own abilities… The US President tried to give hope and boost the morale of the disappointed Zionists in Occupied Palestine with a handful of empty words and his buffoonery,” he wrote.
He added that during the 12-day war with Israel, Iranian missiles penetrated “the depths of several of the Zionist regime’s important centres to destroy them” and claimed that Israeli forces were dealt a “hard blow”.
Dubbing the US a “terror state”, Khamenei accused Washington of being complicit in the war crimes in Gaza. “US resources and weaponry have been made abundantly available to the Zionist regime so they could be dropped on the defenceless people of Gaza… Children as young as four years old, five years old, and newborns , you've killed [over] 20,000 of them! Were these children terrorists? You’re the terrorists!”
Khamenei also accused the US of sponsoring terror groups like Daesh, claiming they remain under US control to be used at will. He concluded by questioning America’s authority over Iran’s nuclear programme: “What position do you hold in the world? How is it any of America’s business whether Iran has nuclear capabilities and a nuclear industry or not?”
