21 October,2025 07:00 PM IST | Tehran | mid-day online correspondent
Iran`s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. FIle pic
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday rejected US President Donald Trump's offer to restart nuclear talks, news agency ANI reported. He also dismissed Trump claims that the US had destroyed Iran's nuclear capabilities.
Iranian state media IRNA criticised the US for its "interventionist and bullying stance" on the country's nuclear programme, ANI reported.
Khamenei referred to Trump's assertion regarding the "obliteration" of Iran's nuclear facilities in airstrikes carried out by Washington and Tel Aviv during the 12-day war of aggression launched by Israel in June this year, ANI reported.
"Keep dreaming. But who are you, anyway, to set dos and don'ts for a country simply because it possesses a nuclear industry? What does it have to do with the United States whether Iran has nuclear capabilities or not? Such interference is inappropriate, wrong, and bullying," Khamenei was quoted as saying by IRNA.
The Iranian supreme leader also took a jibe at Trump, stating, "If he is truly powerful, let him calm the millions of people in all US states who are chanting against him."
Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi criticised Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski over his "baseless claims and meddlesome remarks" against the Islamic Republic. Araghchi made the comments in Polish on X, one day after Sikorski alleged that Iran was supplying drones to Russia for use in the Ukraine war.
According to Iranian state media, on October 14, Sikorski took part in an anti-Iran presentation at the UK Parliament in cooperation with a US-Israeli-affiliated group, showcasing what they claimed was the wreckage of an Iranian-made drone used by Russia in its war in Ukraine. Following the event, Iran summoned Poland's charge d'affaires in Tehran to protest Sikorski's involvement.
Recently, Iran announced that it was no longer bound by the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), under which international sanctions had been lifted in exchange for restrictions on Tehran's nuclear programme. Foreign Minister Araghchi stated that all UN sanctions related to Iran's nuclear programme would officially expire when UN Resolution 2231 lapses on October 18.
In 2018, during his first term, Trump had unilaterally pulled the US out of the deal and reinstated sanctions.
Recently, speaking to the Israeli Parliament, Trump said, "Yet even to Iran, whose regime has inflicted so much death on the Middle East, the hand of friendship and cooperation is open. I'm telling you, they want to make a deal. That's all I do in my life. I make deals, I'm good at it."
"Neither the United States nor Israel bear the people of Iran any hostility. We merely want to live in peace. We don't want any looming threats over our heads, and we don't want to even think in terms of nuclear destruction. But I'm gonna say this, that we are ready when you are. And it will be the best decision that Iran has ever made. And it's gonna happen. It's gonna happen," the US President stated further in his address.
(With ANI inputs)
