Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denounced engagement with the US in an address on Monday. He also pledged to rebuild Iran’s nuclear program that was partially destroyed during the war with Israel in June.
“The US sometimes says it’s willing to cooperate with Iran. If they stop supporting Zionist regime, remove military bases from the area and stop interfering in the region, these matters could potentially be reviewed. This isn’t something foreseeable for now, nor for the near future,” he said.
Khamenei went on to list a long list of grievances Tehran has with Washington, including the downing of an Iranian passenger jet, US support for Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War, and the US role during Israel’s aggressive War with Iran earlier this year.
“The inherently arrogant nature of the US is incompatible with the independence-seeking nature of the Islamic Revolution. The difference between the US and the Islamic Republic is not tactical or circumstantial; it is intrinsic.” The Ayatollah continued, “The inherently arrogant nature of the US accepts nothing but submission. Every US president desired this, though some did not state it openly; the current president has expressed it explicitly, revealing the US’s true nature.”
Washington has demanded that Tehran engage in talks on limiting Iran’s nuclear program. The Trump administration and the Islamic Republic engaged in several rounds of productive negotiations before Israel’s unprovoked war on Iran derailed the diplomatic process.
During the war, the US and Israel bombed Iranian nuclear facilities. President Masoud Pezeshkian told state media on Sunday that Tehran planned to rebuild its nuclear facilities “with greater strength.“Destroying buildings and factories will not create a problem for us; we will rebuild and with greater strength,” he said.
President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have threatened to restart the bombing of Iran if the Israeli Republic rebuilds its nuclear program. While Washington and Tel Aviv have claimed that Tehran is building a nuclear weapon, the international nuclear watchdog has certified that Iran’s nuclear program is limited to civilian uses in its inspections before the Israeli war.
Iran agreed to allow the inspectors to return to the Islamic Republic, but the US helped to reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran, scuttling the deal. The inspectors currently have some access to a limited number of nuclear sites.
