TEHRAN – Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has ruled out any negotiations with the U.S., stating that Iran learned in the 2010s that Washington cannot be trusted. 

His remarks, made at a meeting with Air Force personnel in Tehran on Friday, came hours after the U.S. imposed its first sanctions following President Trump's order to renew "maximum pressure" on Iran.

Ayatollah Khamenei told the crowd of high-ranking military personnel that Iran is not opposed to dialogue and negotiations. “The only exception in this regard is the United States. Of course, we do not count the Zionist regime as an exception because this regime is basically not a government at all but rather a criminal gang.”

Explaining why the United States is an exception in negotiations, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Some pretend that if we sit at the negotiating table with Americans, it would solve certain problems, but the reality that we must realize is that negotiations with the U.S. will not have any effect on solving the country’s problems.”

The Leader highlighted the frustrating experience of the 2010s, when Iran invested two years in intensive negotiations with the P5+1 (Britain, France, U.S., Russia, China, and Germany) to reach a deal, only to see Washington unilaterally scrap it. "Our government at the time sat with them, engaged in extensive back-and-forth negotiations, laughed, shook hands, acted friendly, and did everything possible," he said. "The result was an agreement in which Iran, with considerable generosity, made significant concessions. However, the Americans failed to honor that very agreement."

Ayatollah Khamenei was referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an international agreement struck in 2015 that limited Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for the termination of sanctions.

Current U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear pact in 2018 during his first term in office. He subsequently re-imposed sanctions against Iran, intensified them, and added new ones. 

The Leader noted in his Friday remarks that while Trump officially abandoned the JCPOA, his predecessor, who had signed the deal, also failed to honor his commitments. He explained, "The U.S. sanctions that were meant to be lifted remained in place. And concerning the United Nations, they left behind a persistent wound, a constant threat looming over Iran," referring to the "snapback" mechanism that allows signatories to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran without having to uphold their end of the agreement.

European signatories to the JCPOA have been threatening to invoke the snapback mechanism for months. They, however, have refused to address Washington’s official withdrawal or their own defacto shunning of the deal. 

Ayatollah Khamenei said lessons must be learned from "two years of negotiations, granting concessions, making compromises, and ultimately achieving nothing." He maintained that the U.S., despite all the JCPOA’s shortcomings for Iran, violated and withdrew from it. "Therefore, negotiating with such a government is neither rational, intelligent, nor honorable, and we should not engage in negotiations with them."

Recognizing the economic and livelihood challenges faced by many Iranians, the Leader asserted that the key to overcoming these problems is internal strength, specifically, "the resolve of dedicated authorities and the collaboration of a unified nation." He pointed to the annual 22 Bahman rally, commemorating the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, as a symbol of this national unity, saying, "God willing, we will see a further manifestation of this unity again this year."

He also highlighted Washington’s failed attempts to reshape the world, dismissing such plans as completely unrealistic and existing only "on paper." He continued, "Of course, they also make comments about us, talk, and issue threats." The Leader then stated firmly, "If they threaten us, we will threaten them. If they act on their threat, we will act on ours. And if they undermine our national security, we will certainly undermine theirs as well."