The Supreme Leader: negotiating with US government is neither rational, nor intelligent, nor honorable

Ayatollah Khamenei, referring to discussions and debates about negotiations in newspapers and on the internet, as well as the remarks of certain individuals in this regard, said: “The focus of these discussions is negotiations with the United States, and they speak of negotiations as a good thing, as though anyone is opposed to negotiation itself being good.” He highlighted the Foreign Ministry’s extensive diplomatic efforts in negotiating and signing agreements with all countries worldwide, stating: “The only exception in this regard is the US. 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 and land-usurping gang.”

Explaining why the United States is an exception in negotiations, Imam Khamenei said, “Some pretend that if we sit at the negotiating table, it would solve certain problems, but the reality that we must correctly understood is that negotiations with the US have any effect on solving the country’s problems.”

The Supreme Leader cited the negative experience of the 2010s—about two years of negotiations with the US and several other countries, which led to the Nuclear Agreement—as proof of the futility of negotiating with the US. “Our government at the time sat with them, went back and forth and engaged in negotiations, laughed, shook hands, acted friendly [towards them], and did everything, and an agreement was formed in which the Iranian side, with great generosity, granted many concessions to the other side. However, the Americans did not honor that very agreement,” he added.

Referring to statements by the current US president about tearing up the JCPOA (Iran nuclear deal) during his previous presidency and following through with it, he pointed out that even before him, the previous US administration, which had accepted the agreement, did not adhere to it. “The US sanctions that were supposed to be terminated were not terminated. And regarding the United Nations, they left a festering wound, a constant threat hanging over Iran,” he said.

According to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, lessons need to be learned from “two years of negotiations, granting concessions, making compromises, yet achieving no results.” He argued that the US violated the very same agreement, despite all its flaws, and withdrew from it. “Therefore, negotiating with such a government is neither rational, nor intelligent, nor honorable, and [we] should not engage in negotiations with it.”

Ayatollah Khamenei, referring to the domestic and livelihood problems that most people are grappling with, maintained that what solves the problems is the internal factor, that is, the “determination of committed officials and the cooperation of a united nation.” The symbol of this national unity, he went on, is the 22 Bahman rally [the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution’s victory], “during which, God willing, we will once again witness such unity this year.”

He also pointed to US struggles to change the map of the world, saying these plots have no relation to reality whatsoever and are only on paper. He added, “Of course, they also comment about us, talk, and issue threats.” “If they threaten us, we will threaten them. If they carry out their threat, we will carry out our threat. And if they disrupt the security of our nation, we will definitely disrupt their security as well,” the Leader of the Revolution asserted.

In another part of his speech, Ayatollah Khamenei described Bahman 19, 1357 (February 8, 1979) as a blessed and glorious memory, saying: “The heroic action of those youths determined the course of the new Army and led the various branches and personnel of the Army, inspired by that pledge of allegiance, to join the nation.”

The Leader of Revolution mentioned the actions of the Pahlavi regime in defining the Army within the framework of the US military apparatus. He said, “The organization, weapons, and training of the Army were American, and even key appointments and the manner of using armaments were done based on the permission of the Americans. The extent of the dependency was so large that Iranians were not even allowed to open or repair parts.” He described Imam Khomeini’s fiery speech in October 1964 against Capitulation as a protest against the humiliating American dominance over the Army and the country, adding: “According to Capitulation, which was accepted by all the Pahlavi officials from top to bottom, no American was to be prosecuted in Iran regardless of the crime.”