INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Iran will not be bullied into negotiations, a day after United States President
Donald Trump said he had sent a letter to the country&s top authority urging Tehran to negotiate a nuclear deal.In an interview with Fox
Business, Trump said, &There are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal& to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear
weapons.At a meeting with senior Iranian officials, Khamenei said Washington&s aim was to &impose their own expectations,& Iranian state
media reported.The insistence of some bullying governments on negotiations is not to resolve issues
… Talks for them is a pathway to have new demands, it is not only about Iran&s nuclear issue
… Iran will definitely not accept their expectations,& Khamenei was quoted as saying, without directly mentioning Trump.In response to
Khamenei&s comments, White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes reiterated almost word for word the choice of negotiations
or military action that Trump said he had presented to Iran.We hope the Iran Regime puts its people and best interests ahead of terror,&
Hughes said in a statement.While expressing openness to a deal with Tehran, Trump has reinstated a &maximum pressure& campaign that was
applied during his first term as president to isolate Iran from the global economy and drive its oil exports to zero.During his 2017-2021
term, Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark deal between Iran and major powers that had placed strict limits on Tehran&s nuclear
activities in exchange for sanctions relief.After Trump pulled out in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions, Iran breached and far surpassed those
nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi has said that time is running out for diplomacy to impose new restrictions on Iran&s activities, as
Tehran continues to accelerate its enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade.Tehran says its nuclear work is solely for peaceful
purposes.Khamenei, who has the last say on Iran&s key policies, said there was &no other way to stand against coercion and bullying&.They
are bringing up new demands that certainly will not be accepted by Iran, like our defence capabilities, missile range and international
influence,& he was quoted as saying.Although Tehran says its ballistic missile programme is purely defensive, it is seen in the West as a
destabilising factor in a volatile, conflict-ridden Middle East.Tehran has in recent months announced new additions to its conventional
weaponry, such as its first drone carrier and an underground naval base amid rising tensions with the United States and Israel.The post
Iran will not negotiate under US ‘bullying&, Supreme Leader says first appeared on Ariana News.
