Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Donald Trump on Saturday of falsehoods regarding his claims of seeking regional peace during his Gulf tour this week.
Khamenei asserted that, conversely, the United States utilizes its power to supply “10-ton bombs to the Zionist [Israeli] regime to drop on the heads of Gaza’s children.”
Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the United Arab Emirates on Friday, stated that Iran must act swiftly on a US proposal concerning its nuclear program, or “something bad’s going to happen.”
Khamenei dismissed these remarks as “not even worth responding to,” labeling them an “embarrassment to the speaker and the American people.”
According to state media, he declared at a religious center event in Tehran, “Undoubtedly, the source of corruption, war, and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime — a dangerous, deadly cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted.”
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian highlighted the contradiction in Trump’s simultaneous peace pronouncements and threats.
“Which should we believe?” Pezeshkian questioned at a naval event in Tehran. “On the one hand, he speaks of peace, and on the other, he threatens with the most advanced tools of mass killing.”
Tehran affirmed its commitment to continuing Iran-US nuclear talks, while asserting its resilience in the face of threats. “We are not seeking war,” Pezeshkian stated.
Despite Trump’s claim of a US proposal regarding Iran’s nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, in a post on X, denied receiving any such proposal. “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to [uranium] enrichment for peaceful purposes…” he emphasized.
Araqchi cautioned on Saturday that Washington’s fluctuating stances are prolonging nuclear talks, as reported by state TV.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that America repeatedly defines a new framework for negotiations that prolongs the process,” Araqchi was quoted as saying in the broadcast.
Pezeshkian reiterated Iran’s resolve to “not back down from our legitimate rights.”
“Because we refuse to bow to bullying, they say we are the source of instability in the region,” he stated.
The fourth round of Iran-US talks concluded in Oman last Sunday, with no new round currently scheduled.
