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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a March 12, 2025 address, claimed that he did not receive a letter from President Trump calling for negotiations, calling it an attempt to deceive the world's public opinion. He stated that negotiations require certainty that the other side will honor its commitments, but Iran cannot negotiate with the man who rejected the JCPOA. Khamenei explained that the goal of Iran's JCPOA talks was to lift sanctions, but these are becoming less effective the longer they remain. He added that not all of Iran's problems are due to sanctions; most stem from inattentiveness. Khamenei also declared that America would not be able to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon if it chose to do so. In response, the crowd chanted, "Death to America!" Khamenei stated that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon and is not trying to obtain one, but added that if Iran did want one, America could not stop it. He argued that America's threat to launch a military operation against Iran was unwise. He also said that, contrary to expectations, resistance in Palestine and Lebanon had not been eliminated but had actually grown stronger.
Ali Khamenei: "The fact that the U.S. President says that they are willing to negotiate with Iran, calls for negotiations with Iran, and says that he sent a letter... Obviously, we did not get such a letter. At least I didn't... In my opinion, this is an attempt to deceive the world's public opinion.
"It is like saying: 'We want to hold negotiations and reach peace, but Iran refuses to hold negotiations.' Okay, but why does Iran refuse to negotiate? It goes back to you. We sat with you, held negotiations for several years, and that man threw the completed and signed negotiated [agreement] off the table, and ripped it to pieces. How can negotiations be held with this man?
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"In negotiations, you need to be sure that the other side will abide by its commitments. When we know it won't – what negotiations [are we talking about]?
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"With regard to America's sanctions, the goals of our negotiations and the JCPOA in the previous decade was to remove those sanctions from the start. Luckily, the sanctions begin to lose their impact in the world. The longer the sanctions remain, they gradually become less effective. They themselves admit this.
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"Indeed, this does not mean that the sanctions are completely ineffective, but it is not that if our economic condition is bad, it is solely because of the sanctions. No, sometimes our inattentiveness has an effect. Not 'sometimes.' Most of our problems are the result of our inattentiveness.
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"With regard to nuclear weapons... After all, they keep saying: 'We will not let Iran obtain nuclear weapons.' If we wanted to build a nuclear weapon, America would not be able to stop us."
Crowd: "Allah Akbar! Allah Akbar! Allah Akbar! Khamenei is the Leader! Death to those who oppose the Rule of the Jurisprudent! Death to America! Death to England! Death to the hypocrites and infidels! Death to Israel!"
Khamenei: "We do not have a nuclear weapon and we are not trying to obtain a nuclear weapon because we do not want it for certain reasons, which I mentioned and talked about in the past. We did not want it, but if we wanted, they would not be able to stop us. The next issue is that America is threatening [to launch] a military operation. This threat is not wise, in my opinion. Causing war and inflicting casualties is not a one-sided affair. Iran is capable of landing a counter blow, and it most certainly would.
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"Despite the enemy's expectations, not only was the resistance in Palestine and in Lebanon not eliminated, but they grew stronger.
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"We need to say that we will support the resistance in Palestine with all our force."
Crowd: "Allah Akbar! Allah Akbar! Allah Akbar! Khamenei is the Leader! Death to those who oppose the Rule of the Jurisprudent! Death to America! Death to England! Death to the hypocrites and infidels! Death to Israel!"
Khamenei: "This is agreed upon by all the senior officials in the country: The government, the President, and others are in agreement on these things. There is no problem."
