Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that the United States wants Tehran “to be obedient” to it, but the Iranian people will resist such “a grave insult”, state media reported on Sunday.
“They want Iran to be obedient to America. The Iranian nation will stand with all of its power against those who have such erroneous expectations,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said during a religious event on Sunday.
“People who ask us not to issue slogans against the US … to have direct negotiations with the US only see appearances … This issue is unsolvable”, he said amid a standoff with Western powers over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Khamenei’s comments come after Iran and European powers agreed on Friday to resume talks to try to restart full negotiations on curbing Tehran’s nuclear enrichment work. France, Britain and Germany said they could reactivate United Nations sanctions on Iran under a “snapback” mechanism if Tehran does not return to the table. They are expected to hold talks on Tuesday.
Tehran had suspended nuclear negotiations with the US after Washington and Israel bombed its nuclear sites during a 12-day war in June.
“The way forward for the enemy is to create discord” in Iran, Khamenei said, blaming “agents of America and the Zionist regime” – a reference to Israel – for seeking to sow division.
He urged Iranians to stay united to confront what he described as US efforts to subjugate the country.
The European states, along with the US, claim Iran is working towards developing nuclear weapons. But Iran has maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.
In 2015, Iran signed a landmark nuclear deal with the US and European countries under which it agreed to scale down its nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief.
But during his first term in office, US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and slapped back sanctions as part of his “maximum pressure” policy. Washington’s closest regional ally, Israel, had also opposed the deal with Iran.
The 12-day war broke out in June 2025 as Tehran and Washington were due to hold their sixth round of talks on Iran’s nuclear programme. Negotiations that had begun weeks earlier were derailed by the conflict.
Relations between Tehran and Washington were severed after the 1979 Islamic revolution overthrew the pro-Western government of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
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