Tehran [Iran], March 13: Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on March 12 that US threats were "unwise" after US President Donald Trump warned of possible military action if Tehran refused to negotiate.
"The US is threatening to use military force. In my opinion, this threat is unwise. Iran is capable of retaliating and will certainly strike back," Iran's supreme leader Khamenei said during a meeting with students in the Iranian capital Tehran on March 12, according to AFP.
Khamenei made the statement as Iranian media reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had received a letter from President Trump, delivered through senior United Arab Emirates (UAE) official Anwar Gargash.
President Trump said on March 7 that he had written to Iran's supreme leader, urging new talks on Iran's nuclear program but warning of possible military action if Tehran refused.
Mr Khamenei said he had not yet personally received the letter, but said the US invitation to talks was intended to "deceive world opinion " by suggesting that Washington was ready to negotiate while Tehran was not.
"We sat and negotiated for many years, but this person threw away an agreement that was completed and signed, and tore it up," Khamenei added, referring to Washington's withdrawal from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal during Trump's first term.
Since returning to the White House in January, Mr Trump has called for a new nuclear deal with Tehran while reviving his "maximum pressure" sanctions policy over concerns Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons . Tehran denies the allegations.
Iran has officially ruled out direct talks until the US lifts sanctions, and Khamenei said on March 12 that talks with the US "will not lift sanctions... and will make sanctions tighter," according to AFP.
"If we want to build nuclear weapons, America cannot stop us. The fact that we do not have nuclear weapons and do not seek nuclear weapons is because we ourselves do not want such weapons," Khamenei said.
Mr Khamenei, who has the final say in state affairs, stressed that Iran "does not want war, but if any side acts, we will have a decisive and firm response".
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
