Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on February 7 that negotiations with the United States are neither wise nor smart nor honourable, citing past experiences, his official website reported.

Speaking to a group of Air Force and Air Defence commanders ahead of the 46th anniversary of the revolution’s victory, he stressed that talks with Washington would not solve Iran’s problems but did not specifically say not to negotiate.

The remarks come after US President Donald Trump expressed readiness to enter negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme, underlining that the Islamic Republic cannot have a nuclear weapon.

Iranian officials, including the president, reiterated Iran’s stance on the prohibition of nuclear arms, citing a fatwa (religious decree) by Ayatollah Khamenei.

Iran's nuclear programme has been a source of ongoing tension with Western powers for years. In 2015, Iran reached a deal with the six world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), that restricted its nuclear activity and imposed strict monitoring in return for lifting sanctions.

Trump, however, pulled the US out during his previous term in office in 2018 and imposed tough sanctions on Tehran under a so-called maximum pressure campaign.

On February 4, he signed a memorandum that ordered the restoration of the policy.

In the first step on February 6, the US Treasury imposed new sanctions on individuals and tankers involved in shipping millions of barrels of Iranian oil to China.

Iran condemned the move as “illegitimate and unlawful”, saying the US is responsible for the consequences and repercussions of such “unilateral and bullying actions”.

Ayatollah Khamenei referred to negotiations in the 1990s that resulted in the JCPOA, saying the Iranian side was very generous and made a lot of concessions.

“But the Americans did not implement the same deal. The same person who is now in office tore up the deal,” he said.

He added that even the administration that had signed the deal did not fully abide by it and US sanctions were not lifted effectively.

Khamenei also criticised the mechanism stipulated in the JCPOA, known as snapback, that allows the United Nations Security Council to restore all sanctions Iran is found in violation.

He said the purpose was to keep Iran under threat.

“Well, this is another experience; let's use this experience. We negotiated, we compromised, we made concessions, but did not achieve the outcome we intended,” he said. He added that one should not negotiate with such a government as it is neither wise and smart nor honourable.

Khamenei later pointed to US threats against Iran, stressing that Iran will retaliate in the same way.

“If they threaten us, we will threaten them. If they carry out this threat, we will also implement the threat. If they attack the security of our nation, we will also attack their security, without a doubt,” he said, noting that this is instructed by the Qur'an and the teachings of Islam, and is a duty.