Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian said that his country would not negotiate with America under any threat, telling US President Donald Trump to "do whatever the hell you want", state media reported on Tuesday.
"It is unacceptable for us that they (the US) give orders and make threats. I won't even negotiate with you. Do whatever the hell you want," Pezeshkian was cited as saying state media, a Reuters report said.
The Iranian president's remarks come just days after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Tehran will not be bullied into negotiations.
"Some bully governments -- I really don't know of any more appropriate term for some foreign figures and leaders than the word bullying -- insist on negotiations. Their negotiations are not aimed at solving problems, they aim at domination," Khamenei was quoted as saying.
Trump's nuclear deal letter to Iran leadership
His statement came just a day after Trump sent a letter to him, urging Iran to negotiate a new nuclear deal.
“I’ve written them a letter saying I hope you negotiate, because if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing for them,” Trump told Fox News.
{{/usCountry}}“I’ve written them a letter saying I hope you negotiate, because if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing for them,” Trump told Fox News.
{{/usCountry}}The US president had also said that while he is not ruling out a military intervention, he would "rather negotiate a deal".
Even though he showed openness to a deal with Iran, Trump also reinstated the "maximum pressure" campaign he applied in his first term as president to isolate Tehran from the global economy and drive down its oil exports towards zero.
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On the other hand, Iran has consistently refused any plans of developing a nuclear weapon. However, it is "dramatically" accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60 per cent purity, which is close to the roughly 90 per cent weapons-grade level, the IAEA warned.
Iran has been accelerating its nuclear work since 2019, a year after the then President Donald Trump ditched Tehran's 2015 nuclear pact with six world powers, reimposing sanctions that obstructed the country's economy.
(with Reuters inputs)