Iran International
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s emphatic rejection of talks with the United States on Friday has sparked mixed reactions and interpretations within Iran—primarily on social media.
Implicitly referring to President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the JCPOA nuclear agreement in 2018, Khamenei said that “Negotiating with such a government should not be done; it is neither wise, intelligent nor honorable."
Trump reinstated his "maximum pressure" sanctions this week but also extended an olive branch, proposing a meeting with his Iranian counterpart and expressing hope that if an agreement ensures Iran abandons the pursuit of nuclear weapons, further sanctions would not be unnecessary.
A US State Department spokesman told Iran International on Friday that Iran will remain under the restored maximum pressure campaign unless it chooses to pursue a deal.
Most Iranian media outlets have reported Khamenei’s statements without commentary or analysis. As seen in previous instances reported by Iranian journalists, higher authorities—such as the Supreme National Security Council—may have directed the media to refrain from critical coverage of the speech.
Hardliner and ultra-hardliner media outlets and politicians, however, have insisted that Khamenei’s speech unequivocally banned any response to President Donald Trump’s proposal to hold direct negotiations with his Iranian counterpart.
"The Leader of the Revolution's stance on negotiations with the United States was stated in the clearest possible terms, leaving no room for alternative interpretations," the Revolutionary Guards-linked Javan newspaper wrote in an editorial Saturday.
The editorial also demanded that President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government urgently align with Khamenei’s directive “to safeguard national unity.” In fact, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghci announced on Saturday that he will follow the Supreme Leader's guidance in foreign policy.
In a social media post, an ultra-hardliner lawmaker, Mohammad-Mannan Raisi, issued a stern warning to those advocating for talks with the United States. “After His Excellency’s speech today, if they continue pushing their unrectified views and pressuring the Leader, we will no longer respond with mere speeches and commentaries,” Raisi wrote on social media.
On the other hand, supporters of direct US-Iran negotiations offered alternative interpretations of Khamenei’s remarks, suggesting they might not represent a complete rejection of talks. Some argued that Khamenei was merely emphasizing the need for clear outcomes, such as lifting sanctions, rather than engaging in futile negotiations.
In support of this view, proponents noted that Khamenei’s speech did not refer to the 2020 killing of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad, an event often cited by hardliners to oppose dialogue with Trump.
Mohammad-Ali Ahangaran, a moderate conservative political analyst, interpreted Khamenei’s position as part of a broader negotiation strategy. “As a scholar in international law and political science, I see this as an element in ongoing negotiations,” Ahangaran wrote on social media.
Similarly, former reformist lawmaker Akbar Alami argued that Khamenei’s speech was a tactical move aimed at securing guarantees from Trump that any potential agreement would not be abandoned, as happened in 2018. Alami recalled that Khamenei had previously opposed negotiations during three speeches in 2012 and 2013, even as secret talks with the US were reportedly taking place in Oman.
During this period, Jake Sullivan, the former National Security Advisor to the US Vice President Joe Biden and William Burns, the Deputy Secretary of State under Barack Obama, reportedly held talks with Iranian representatives in Muscat.
Abdolreza Davari, a former aide to ex-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, suggested that Khamenei’s remarks were not a rejection of negotiations per se but a call for talks to focus on resolving Iran’s problems, particularly sanctions relief.
“Negotiation for its own sake, as seen during the tenure of [Saeed] Jalili [during Ahmadinejad’s presidency] has no outcome other than exacerbating the country’s problems,” he said in an x post, adding that Pezeshkian’s government must “define the requirements for wise, logical, or honorable talks” to prevent a similar outcome.
Paris-based political analyst Hamzeh Ghalebi also argued that Khamenei’s rhetoric implied that negotiations had not been ruled out. According to Ghalebi, Trump demands that Iran forgo nuclear and strategic weapons, while Khamenei seeks guarantees that such disarmament would not compromise Iran’s security and that sanctions would be genuinely lifted. “The first stage of negotiations has already taken place,” Ghalebi concluded.
Reformist figures, including political commentators Abbas Abdi and Ahmad Zeidabadi, have repeatedly urged Pezeshkian to initiate negotiations with the United States to ease or lift sanctions. Calls for diplomacy grew louder in the media after US President Donald Trump stated earlier this week that he was ready to meet his Iranian counterpart.
This may shift after Khamenei’s February 7 speech, where he rejected talks with Washington and warned that Iran would respond to threats in kind. A relative media blackout in Iran on Friday suggested a changing landscape. Still, warnings to Pezeshkian remain relevant.
In one of the latest warnings, Abdi wrote in Etemad newspaper that Pezeshkian risks losing public trust if he fails to uphold his promises. Citing an example, Abdi noted that Pezeshkian has yet to deliver on his pledge to lift internet restrictions. He warned that "soon, Iranians will no longer need filter-breakers (VPNs), thanks to Elon Musk’s help."
Abdi also noted that "public trust in Pezeshkian’s administration was low from the outset, as many believed that meaningful change was unlikely under the current political structure. They were convinced that achieving anything effective was nearly impossible."
In Iran, references to phrases like “the current political structure” are widely understood to imply that Khamenei, as the ultimate decision-maker, opposes opening up to the West and abandoning his nuclear ambitions.
Two weeks ago, when Khamenei appeared to signal approval for talks with Washington, Zeidabadi criticized Pezeshkian for his inaction. "What are you waiting for? Why don’t you pick up the phone and call Trump?" he asked. Zeidabadi was not alone—many centrist and pro-reform politicians in Iran also urged Pezeshkian to take the initiative and reach out to Trump.
With Khamenei's hardline stance, calls for rapprochement with Washington are unlikely to persist, at least for now. However, since Khamenei cannot be openly criticized or challenged, the press and politicians will likely shift back to blaming the Pezeshkian administration for inaction and inefficiency in improving people's lives.
Even in his Friday speech, Khamenei assigned Pezeshkian the task of fixing the country's economic problems—as if unaware that without resolving Iran’s biggest foreign policy issue with the United States, any economic improvement is unlikely. This has been evident since 2018 when Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal after Tehran refused to address broader US concerns over its regional activities.
Abbas Abdi in turn called on Pezeshkian "to be honest with the people as honesty is the only remedy for distrust."
The challenge for Pezeshkian is that he cannot openly admit to the public that his ability to fix the economy is severely limited or point to Khamenei’s hardline stance as the root of their hardships.
According to Etemad in its introduction to Abdi’s article, "public trust in Pezeshkian has significantly declined since September, and his popularity has suffered due to his failure to fulfill his promises." Abdi warned that "if Pezeshkian cannot deliver meaningful progress by the Iranian New Year in late March, he will have little time to recover what he has lost."
Abdi and several other commentators argue that Pezeshkian has raised public expectations for lifting sanctions and improving the economy, making it his biggest challenge alongside ongoing energy shortages. Etemad reported that "a September poll found that 59 percent of Iranians considered lifting sanctions their top priority."
Since Tehran’s media is unlikely to criticize Khamenei for his hardline speech on Friday, state television instead praised him and his threats against the United States. Meanwhile, print media is left with only one option—criticizing Pezeshkian while avoiding any mention of Khamenei’s role in the economic crisis.
This comes as hardline former Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli told the press on Friday that "Iran's situation is currently far more complicated than in November 2019," when one of the largest protests in the country's history left around 1,500 dead, according to some reports.
Iridium Hexafluoride (IR46) has multiple applications, including in brachytherapy (internal radiotherapy), low-dose medical radiography, and the production of IR192, which serves as a substitute for cobalt-60 (Co-60) in radiotherapy, according to state news ISNA. Additionally, Iran says IR192 is widely used as a radiography source, particularly in the oil and gas industries, non-destructive testing (NDT), and radiobiology research to study the effects of radiation on living tissues.
With the successful production of IR46, Iran says it joins a select group of countries possessing this advanced technology, opening possibilities for exporting the product to other nations.
Mohammad Eslami, the Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), visited Isfahan on Saturday to inaugurate several key projects, including the Iridium Hexafluoride (IR46) production line, a comprehensive technical safety testing facility, a semi-industrial sintering furnace for fuel pellets, and a resistance welding (RW) machine at the Shahid Raeisi Nuclear Site.
The Trump administration has reinstated its "maximum pressure" policy on Iran, emphasizing that sanctions will remain unless Tehran agrees to a new deal with the US.
Under pressure for uranium enrichment and alleged secret nuclear activities, Iran always insists that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes and scientific advancement.
While President Trump has expressed openness to negotiations, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei firmly rejected the idea, calling talks with Washington unwise and dishonorable. Khamenei criticized the US for withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal, labeling it an act of betrayal. Despite Trump's stated desire for peace, he remains committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, maintaining a hardline stance unless a new agreement is reached.