Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated that his country is ready for dialogue with the United States, but on an equal footing, not under threat.
Regarding US President Donald Trump’s threats against Iran and his call for negotiations, Pezeshkian said in a speech on Saturday at an event in Tehran that the Americans are threatening Iran on one hand and calling for negotiations on the other.
He said, “If you want to negotiate, why the threats?” He added that the United States, through Trump’s threats, “is harming not only Iran but the entire world, and this behavior contradicts their call for dialogue.”
For his part, the commander-in-chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, General Hossein Salami, said, “We are not worried about war, and we are prepared for the enemy’s psychological warfare, and we will not retreat from it.”
Trump threatened last Sunday to bomb Iran and impose secondary tariffs and additional sanctions if it did not reach an agreement with Washington regarding its nuclear program.
Earlier on Sunday, Pezeshkian said his country had rejected direct negotiations with the United States in response to a letter from Trump regarding Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran responded to Trump’s threats last Tuesday, vowing a decisive response. In a statement, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard warned what it described as enemies against “making any miscalculations or harboring evil fantasies about Iranian territory.”
Ali Larijani, a close advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader, warned that Tehran, despite not seeking to acquire a nuclear weapon, “will have no choice but to do so” if attacked.
Iran’s representative to the United Nations also warned the United States and Israel against any military action against his country, stating that Iran would respond decisively and swiftly to any action targeting its sovereignty.
