Masoud Pezeshkian, President of Iran, criticized U.S. President Donald Trump on the 17th (local time), stating, "He talks about peace while threatening to use advanced lethal weapons, sending contradictory messages of peace and massacre."
According to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency, President Pezeshkian made these remarks during a speech to the Iranian military in Tehran, saying, "Iran does not want war. Iranians want negotiations, but they will not yield in negotiations, nor will they give up their legitimate rights."
President Pezeshkian, referring to statements made by President Trump regarding U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations during his Middle East tour from the 13th to the 16th, said, "No one but President Trump believes his anti-Iran remarks."
He argued, "U.S. officials consider Iran a source of instability because Iran refuses to submit to intimidation tactics and insists on its independence."
He went on to emphasize, "Iran will maintain its achievements in the military, academic, scientific, and nuclear fields."
President Trump, who concluded his four-day Middle East tour with a final stop in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) the previous day, stated that the U.S. proposal regarding nuclear negotiations had already been delivered to Iran, adding, "They know that if they do not act quickly, bad things will happen."
In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "Iran has not received any written proposals from the United States, either directly or indirectly," adding, "Iran will never give up its hard-won enrichment rights for peaceful purposes."
The United States and Iran held four rounds of high-level nuclear negotiations mediated by Oman from the 12th of last month to the 11th, and additional talks have also been announced. The main issue in the nuclear negotiations is the continuation of Iran's uranium enrichment program.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
