In his latest speech to an Iranian audience, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threw cold water on any possibility of renegotiating the nuclear deal with the United States under the current campaign of pressure from the White House.

In response to calls that Iran must “return to the negotiating table,” as US national security adviser John Bolton has previously stated, Khamenei said, “Those who say Iran must return to the negotiating table mean that Iran must negotiate with America, because we don’t have problems with other countries — and we negotiate with Europeans and others.” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had previously stated that Iran would talk to the United States if it re-enters the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which it unilaterally exited a year ago.

Khamenei added, “We will not negotiate on any topic, and ‘issues of honor and the fundamentals of the revolution,’ as well as issues of defense, cannot be topics of negotiations.” He said negotiations on topics such as defense mean "they will want something and we will say no." US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had previously published a list of 12 demands, including that Iran limit its missile program — which Iran considers a deterrent and for defense purposes.

On negotiating with the United States, Khamenei said, “Just as it has been said before, not negotiating with America is for these reasons: One, there is no use and it is detrimental.” He continued, “The Americans, in order to reach their objective, have one strategy and one tactic. The strategy is pressure in order to wear out their opposing side, then they use negotiations as complementary pressure until they reach their objectives.”