Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that US President Donald Trump would not succeed in destroying the Islamic republic, as talks between the two countries began in Geneva.
“In one of his recent speeches, the US president said that for 47 years America has not succeeded in destroying the Islamic republic… I tell you: you will not succeed either,” said Khamenei in a speech.
The remarks came as Tehran and Washington kicked off a second round of talks on Tuesday in Geneva.
The first round was held earlier in February, after earlier talks collapsed during last year’s Iran-Israel war.
The latest talks come after Washington deployed an aircraft carrier group to the Gulf following Iran’s deadly crackdown last month on anti-government protests, which were triggered by economic hardship.
During his speech, Khamenei warned that the US warship deployed in the Gulf could be sunk.
“We constantly hear that they (the United States) have sent a warship toward Iran. A warship is certainly a dangerous weapon, but even more dangerous is the weapon capable of sinking it,” he said.
Khamenei expressed scepticism over the outcome of the negotiations with the US.
“If there are to be negotiations — because there is no real room for negotiation — determining the outcome of the negotiations in advance is a mistake and madness,” he said, referring to the US calls on Iran to abandon its nuclear programme.
During Iran’s 12-day war with Israel in June, the United States joined briefly with strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities.
Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, which had reached 60 percent purity before the war, remain among the key sticking points between Tehran and Washington.
The US has repeatedly called for zero enrichment and has sought to address Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its support for militant groups in the region — issues which Israel has pushed to include in the talks.
Iran has however said its right to enrich uranium was non-negotiable and insisted that the talks be focused only on the nuclear issue.
“The statements of the American president, at times threatening and at times dictating what should and should not be done, reveal a desire to dominate the Iranian nation,” said Khamenei.