TEHRAN – Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that there will be no negotiations between Iran and the United States at any level or any place.

“All officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran unanimously agree that there will be no negotiations with America at any level either in New York or any other place,” the Leader told his theology students.

He noted that the U.S. seeks to impose its demands through negotiations and prove that “policy of maximum pressure” against Iran has worked.

“Policy of maximum pressure against the Iranian people is quite worthless and all the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran unanimously believe that there will be no talks with the United States at any level,” he said.
Ayatollah Khamenei says “the cure (to problems) is inside the country.”The Leader noted that there should be no reliance on foreign countries and attached great importance to people and domestic capacities to solve problems.

“Of course, I do not mean that we should cut relations with other governments around the world. We favor relations and talks, yet, the affairs of the country should not be dependent on our foreign relations. Benefit from the facilities of the world, as much as you can, but the cure is inside the country, and the problems can only be solved by the people,” he pointed out.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that Washington seeks to impose its “imprudent demands” through negotiations and does not seek to find a fair and just solution.

“Sometimes they say that they seek talks with no pre-condition and sometimes they set 12 conditions for talks. Such remarks whether come from their turbulent politics or are a trick to confuse the other side. However, the Islamic Republic of Iran will not be confused, because our path is clear and we know what we are doing,” he said.

In an indirect reference to Saudi Arabia, Ayatollah Khamenei said that Washington should go and hold talks with those who act like “milk cow”.

“The United States pursues the policy of maximum pressure against Iran through various sanctions, intimidation, and distorted claims, because the current government of the United States believes that the Islamic Republic cannot be brought to its knees, humiliated, and made to submit through any indirect approach,” he said.

Elsewhere, Ayatollah Khamenei said that the U.S. seeks to prove that the only way to deal with Iran is applying policy of maximum pressure.

“Our dear nation will never see peace if enemy be able to prove that maximum pressure works on Iran. Because, this policy will become the default basis of every other oppressive policy of the United States, and after that every time they make a new outrageous demand to the Islamic Republic, we would either have to accept and be done with it or say no and be subjected to maximum pressure anew,” he stated.

The Leader noted, “We should prove that policy of maximum pressure against the Iranian nation is worthless.”

However, Ayatollah Khamenei said, if the U.S. “repents” and returns to the 2015 nuclear deal that it has violated it can participate in the negotiations with Iran along with other parties to the nuclear agreement.

“If the United States backs off and repents, and implements the nuclear deal from which they withdrew, then it can also take part in and talk during negotiations between Iran and the countries that are parties to this deal. Otherwise, there will be absolutely no negotiation between the officials of the Islamic Republic and the United States at any level; neither in New York and not anywhere else,” he said.

Some media outlets and U.S. officials have said U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking to hold talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the annual UN conference in New York in the current month.

NA/PA