Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared Monday that cooperation between Tehran and Washington is impossible so long as the United States continues to support Israel, maintain military bases, and interfere in the region.
“The Americans sometimes say they would like to cooperate with Iran. Cooperation with Iran is not possible as long as the US continues to support the accursed Zionist regime, maintains military bases, and interferes in the region,” Khamenei said, as quoted by Reuters.
His remarks come as the Trump administration intensifies pressure on Iran. The two countries held five rounds of nuclear talks prior to the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June, during which the US joined the fighting by striking key Iranian nuclear sites.
Negotiations have since stalled over uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, a central sticking point. In addition, Iran is livid after the reactivation of the “snapback” sanctions mechanism. The sanctions, reimposed in September, followed failed negotiations between Iran and the E3 countries - Britain, France, and Germany - who triggered the “snapback” mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal.
On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared that the Islamic Republic has no intention of engaging in direct negotiations with the United States over its nuclear or missile programs, and will continue enriching uranium.
“We will never negotiate our missile program, and no rational actor would disarm. We cannot stop uranium enrichment, and what cannot be achieved by war cannot be achieved through politics,” Araghchi told Al Jazeera.