A senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader said on Sunday that President Donald Trump must drop the idea that pressure can force Iran into concessions, adding that Tehran remains ready for talks on equal terms but will not abandon uranium enrichment.
“The US president must accept that peace is not achieved by force,” Kamal Kharrazi, head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, said during a speech at a conference in Tehran.
“As your predecessors tested Iran and saw that Iran cannot be destroyed through force and stands firm in defending its rights, you should study their experience. Come and hold real negotiations with Iran based on mutual respect,” Kharrazi said in comments directed at Trump.
"Of course, you should know that we will not abandon enrichment, nor will we give up our military power," he added.
Kharrazi said Iran began producing weapons and missiles during the Iran–Iraq war in the 1980s and has since become a major missile power.
US talks with Tehran over its disputed nuclear program began earlier this year with a 60-day ultimatum. On the 61st day, June 13, Israel launched a surprise military campaign which was capped with US strikes on June 22 targeting key nuclear sites in Esfahan, Natanz and Fordow.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and has called the attacks illegal.
The United States has demanded Iran renounce domestic uranium enrichment while Tehran maintains its nuclear program is an international right.
Kharrazi argued that United Nations failed to protect Iran’s rights during the June war. “You saw that the United Nations did not help Iran, and the secretary general only called for restraint,” he said.
He said the United States and Israel bear responsibility for the June strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, calling them illegal.
“Attacking nuclear facilities is essentially illegal, especially facilities that are under the supervision of the Agency (the International Atomic Energy Agency),” he said, adding that Washington must accept accountability.
Kharrazi’s comments came as Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, also addressed the conference in Tehran.
Araghchi said Iran is prepared for another round of conflict, warning that foreign powers must choose the path forward between diplomacy and war after the twelve-day conflict in June.
“Those who want to engage with Iran must decide which experience they want to base their approach on. We are ready for both,” Araghchi said.
