Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei made the remarks in an address to a group of university professors, elites and researchers on Wednesday.
US President Donald Trump has set forth his so-called “deal of the century” to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The plan is to be revealed at an undetermined date sometime after the Israeli parliamentary elections.
Since Trump took office a trio composed of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, Jason Greenblatt, long-time confidant and chief legal officer to Trump’s business empire, and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman have been working on such a plan.
In his Wednesday comments, Leader also referred to the International Quds Day which is to be held across the world on Friday and said this year’s Quds Day bears more significance compared to that of previous years.
“Defending the Palestinians has both humanitarian and religious aspects,” he said.
The International Quds Day is an annual event held on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan.
It was initiated by the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini to express support for the Palestinians and oppose the Zionist regime.
Iran Not to Negotiate over Core Issues of Revolution
Leader of the Islamic Revolution also underlined that the Islamic Republic will never negotiate on “core issues” of the 1979 Revolution.
“We won’t negotiate on the core issues of the Revolution. Negotiation on this issue implies trading; that is, they mean we give up our defensive capabilities. We won’t negotiate our military capability,” he said.
The Leader noted that by negotiation, the Western media outlets mean negotiation with the US. “But as we said, we won’t negotiate because negotiation with the US is not only fruitless but also harmful.”
However, he added, the Islamic Republic has no problem with negotiatng with the Europeans and others.
The Leader also said pressure serves as a strategy at the hands of the American officials. “They also have a tactic called negotiation. They achieve whatever they want in a foreign country through exerting pressure till the country gives up. Then they say now let’s sit for talks.”
According to the Leader, the only way to counter the pressure is to use a mutual mechanism to exert pressure.
“Sitting for talks under pressure means a complete loss…. The Americans are not seeking pure negotiation.”
Ayatollah Khamenei said unlike what it may appear, the mechanism is not military and if needed, Iran will use military mechanism as well.
He said the decision by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council to stop implementing some of Iran’s commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal was a good measure.
The Leader said the decision seems sufficient for the time being and if needed, Iran will resort to other types of leverage.
“We are not seeking to produce nuclear weapons. This is deeply rooted in our religious beliefs and has nothing to do with the US and its sanctions.”
