Ayatollah Khamenei said in a meeting with Air force commanders and staff: “Some are excited about the proposal of direct talks with the U.S., either from gullibility or ulterior motives.”
He stressed that negotiations with the U.S. will not resolve any problems.
Joe Biden, the U.S. vice president, said on February 1 at the Munich Security Conference that Washington was prepared to hold talks with Iran, adding that “there is still space for diplomacy.”
Biden said “the ball is in the government of Iran’s court” to show that it is serious about negotiations.
The statements were regarded positively by the Iranian Foreign Minister as well as a number of members of Iranian Parliament.
Ayatollah Khamenei said today: “Today, if anyone wants to once more put Iran under U.S. domination, the people will strike them.”
He went on to argue that the U.S. policy in the Middle East has reached a dead end, and getting Iran to the negotiation table is Washington’s way of getting out of this impasse.
“I am not a diplomat,” Khamenei said. “I am a Revolutionary and I talk simply and directly. You (Americans) hold a gun to Iran’s face and then say that you want to negotiate. The people of Iran will not succumb to such fear tactics.”
He accused U.S. authorities of “bad faith” in all their proposals, saying talks cannot be held under “threats and force.”
He said the U.S. had also called for negotiations four years ago and added: “Even then we stressed that we would proceed without prejudice and wanted to see their actions; however, in these four years we have seen nothing but persistence in conspiracies, sedition and the support of terrorists who have assassinated our nuclear scientists.”
