ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged his government on Friday not to negotiate with the United States, saying “no problems” would be solved by negotiating with Washington.
"You should not negotiate with such a government, it is unwise, it is not intelligent, it is not honourable to negotiate," said Khamenei, adding that the United States had previously "ruined, violated, and tore up" a 2015 nuclear deal.
The Iranian supreme leader went on to say during a meeting with army commanders that: "We must understand this correctly; they should not pretend that if we sit down at the negotiating table with that government [the US], problems will be solved.
“No problem will be solved by negotiating with America.”
In 2015, Iran and world powers signed an agreement that led to the easing of international sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.
The United States, however, under the leadership of then-president Donald Trump, unilaterally withdrew from the landmark deal three years later, reimposing economic sanctions on Tehran, causing massive financial damage to the country’s economy and significantly depreciating its currency, toman.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog says that in recent years, Iran has increased its manufacturing of enriched uranium.
Berlin, London, and Paris in mid-December accused the Iranian government of growing its stockpile of high-enriched uranium to "unprecedented levels,” warning they were pondering resorting to imposing sanctions against Iran to keep it from developing its nuclear program.
The three European countries have repeatedly said they would prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, including through snapback if necessary. Iran, however, says it has the right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
In a visit to Tehran in mid-November by IAEA head Rafael Grossi, Iran reportedly agreed to cap its stock of near weapons-grade uranium enriched up to 60 percent purity.
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