Ayatollah Khamenei Reiterated Ban on Talks With US

On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the seizure of the United States Embassy in Tehran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated Sunday a ban on any negotiation with the U.S.

“One way to block America’s political infiltration is to ban any talks with America. It means Iran will not yield to America’s pressure,” the Leader said in a meeting with university students in Tehran a day before the anniversary of the Nov. 4, 1979, embassy seizure.

The incident which happened shortly after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution is marked in the Persian nation with annual anti-U.S. demonstrations; although Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized that the "disputes" between both nations did not start with the embassy takeover.

"From the beginning of their relations with Iran, the Americans, with seemingly friendly plans, continued to feud with the Iranian nation. This enmity became public with the coup d’etat on August 19 [of 1953], which is the beginning of America's public hostility with Iran," he explained.

Since then, the U.S. has not changed a bit, he added.

"The same wickedness, the same brutishness, the same compulsion to establish an international dictatorship and the same endless urge for hegemony still exist in America today, albeit with more savagery and cruelty."

As tensions between both nations escalate, the dispute can be traced back to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the nuclear deal last year, and subsequently reimposed tough sanctions on Iran’s oil industry to strangle the country’s economy.

Measures got worse on April 22, as Trump decided to eliminate all waivers issued to eight economies allowing them to buy Iranian oil, basically imposing third-party sanctions.

As a response, Senior Iranian officials warned Tehran would boost its uranium enrichment, beyond the permitted 3.67 percent, every 60 days unless European powers protect them from U.S. sanctions.

In a tit-for-tat, the U.S. increased its threat in the region by deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, a bomber task force of B-52s, an increased amount of soldiers, and a Patriot missile defense battery in a bid to intimidate Iran.

In June, the Iran downed a U.S. reconnaissance RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned drone in the southern province of Hormozgan, as it violated the country's airspace.

During the 74th session of the U.N. General Assembly, French President Emmanuel Macron tried to promote talks between the foes but failed.

On the matter, Ayatollah Khamenei said Sunday that “the French president, who says a meeting will end all the problems between Tehran and America, is either naive or complicit with America,” shutting down any current possibility for talks.