TEHRAN, Iran (AP) 鈥 Iran鈥檚 president said his country will continue talks with the United States over its rapidly advancing nuclear program but will not withdraw from its rights because of U.S. threats.
鈥淲e are negotiating, and we will negotiate , we are not after war but we do not fear any threat,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said during a speech to navy officials broadcast by state television Saturday.
鈥淚t is not like that they think if they threaten us , we will give up our human right and definite right,鈥 Pezeshkian said. 鈥淲e will not withdraw, we will not easily loose honorable military, scientific, nuclear in all fields.鈥
The negotiations have reached the 鈥渆xpert鈥 level, meaning the sides are trying to reach agreement on the details of a possible deal. But a major sticking point remains Iran鈥檚 enrichment of uranium, which Tehran insists it must be allowed to do and the Trump administration increasingly insists the Islamic Republic must give up.
President has repeatedly threatened to if a deal isn鈥檛 reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
Earlier on Friday, during the talks, though he did not elaborate.
During his , Trump at nearly every event insisted Iran could not be allowed to obtain a nuclear bomb, something U.S. intelligence agencies assess Tehran is not actively pursuing, though its program is on the cusp of being able to weaponize nuclear material.
Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran鈥檚 atomic organization, stressed the peaceful nature of the program, saying it is under 鈥渃ontinuous鈥 monitoring by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, state TV reported Saturday.
鈥淣o country is monitored by the agency like us,鈥 Eslami said, adding that the agency inspected the country鈥檚 nuclear facilities more than 450 time in 2024. 鈥淪omething about 25% of all the agency inspections鈥 in the year.
Meanwhile, Israel routinely has threatened to strike Iran鈥檚 nuclear facilities if it feels threatened, further complicating tensions in the Mideast already spiked by .
In his first reaction to Trump鈥檚 regional visit, Iran鈥檚 Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Trump wasn’t truthful when he made claims about creating peace through power.
鈥淭rump said that he wanted to use power for peace, he lied. He and the U.S. administration used power for massacre in Gaza, for waging wars in any place they could,鈥 Khamenei said Saturday during a meeting with teachers broadcast on state television.
The U.S. has provided Israel with 10-ton bombs to 鈥渄rop on Gaza children, hospitals, houses of people in Lebanon and anywhere else when they can,” Khamenei said.
Khamenei, who has the final say on all Iranian state matters, reiterated his traditional stance against Israel.
鈥淒efinitely, the Zionist regime is the spot of corruption, war, rifts. The Zionist regime that is lethal, dangerous, cancerous tumor should be certainly eradicated, and it will be,” he said, adding that the U.S. has imposed a pattern on Arab nations under which they cannot endeavor without U.S. support.
鈥淪urely this model has failed. With efforts of the regional nations, the U.S. should leave the region, and it will leave,” Khamenei said.
Iran has long considered the U.S. military presence in the region as a threat on its doorstep, especially after Trump with Iran in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions.
