Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian rejected President Donald Trump's request for direct negotiations regarding the country's fast-moving nuclear program.
Delivering the message through the Sultanate of Oman, Pezeshkian said the U.S. hadn't shown itself as a reliable negotiating party.
“We don’t avoid talks; it’s the breach of promises that has caused issues for us so far,” he said in televised remarks during a Cabinet meeting, the Associated Press reported. “They must prove that they can build trust.”
Despite this, Pezeshkian stressed that the possibility for indirect negotiations is still open.
"In this response, although direct negotiations between the two parties are rejected, it has been stated that the path for indirect negotiations is open," he said.
On March 12, Tehran received a letter from Trump, with the U.S. leader announcing the sending in an appearance on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures. Though he was sparse on details, he hinted that the tone was threatening.
“I’ve written them a letter saying, ‘I hope you’re going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing,’” Trump said.
Pezeshkian was elected last year as a reformer in favor of a warmer approach to the West. His desires are kept in check by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 85, who has hardened his position in recent years. Pezeshkian had left open the possibility of discussions until February, when Khamenei said talks with the Trump administration "are not intelligence, wise, or honorable." Pezeshkian has since taken a tougher stance on dealings with the U.S.
Other Iranian officials have grown more belligerent in their rhetoric as well. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said the U.S. believed itself vulnerable.
“If they violate Iran’s sovereignty, it will be like a spark in a gunpowder depot, setting the entire region ablaze. In such a scenario, their bases and their allies will not be safe,” he said.
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After the destruction last year of much of its proxy deterrent network, Tehran has intensified efforts to acquire a nuclear bomb. A February report from the International Atomic Energy Agency said that Iran tripled its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% over the past three months.
Uranium enriched up to 60% is a short technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%, which Iran also possesses. The 605.8 pounds of 60% enriched uranium is theoretically enough to produce six atomic bombs, February's confidential report stated.
