Iran’s Pezeshkian rejects Trump’s offer of nuke talks: ‘Do whatever the hell you want’
Pezeshkian doubles down as Iran conducts joint naval drills with China and Russia amid US threats over nuclear program
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that his country would not negotiate with the United States over its rogue nuclear program while being threatened, telling President Donald Trump to “do whatever the hell you want,” as Iran held joint drills with Russia and China in an effort to demonstrate power.
“It is unacceptable for us that they [the US] give orders and make threats. I won’t even negotiate with you. Do whatever the hell you want,” Iranian state media quoted Pezeshkian as saying.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Tehran would not be bullied into negotiations, a day after Trump said he had sent a letter to him seeking a new nuclear deal with Tehran. Iran says it hasn’t received any letter, but still issued a flurry of pronouncements over it.
While expressing openness to a deal with Tehran, Trump has reinstated the “maximum pressure” campaign he applied in his first term as president to isolate Iran from the global economy and drive its oil exports down toward zero, as the regime builds up stockpiles of uranium enriched to higher levels that needed for any civilian use.
Trump sought to ratchet up pressure Monday by ending a sanctions waiver that had allowed Iraq to buy electricity from its Shiite neighbor.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi slammed the move, declaring Tehran would “not negotiate under pressure and intimidation.”
A landmark 2015 deal that US President Barrack Obama helped negotiate between Tehran and major powers promised sanctions relief in return for Iran curbing its nuclear program.
Tehran initially adhered to the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal after Trump pulled out of it, but then rolled back commitments, ramping up its uranium enrichment.
The UN nuclear watchdog, as well as Western analysts, say Iran is enriching uranium to levels that only countries seeking a weapon reach.
Both Israel and the US have warned they will never let Iran acquire a nuclear weapon, leading to fears of a military confrontation as Tehran rapidly enriches uranium.
Iran has long maintained that its program is for peaceful purposes, even as its officials increasingly threaten to pursue the bomb.
In a show of force on Tuesday, Iran conducted joint naval drills with China and Russia in the region.
The joint drills, called the Maritime Security Belt 2025, took place in the Gulf of Oman near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all crude oil traded worldwide passes. The area around the strait in the past has seen Iran seize commercial ships and launch suspected attacks since Trump withdrew America from the nuclear deal
It was the fifth year the three countries took part in the drills.
This year’s drill likely sparked a warning late Monday from the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, which said there was GPS interference in the strait, with disruptions lasting for several hours and forcing crews to rely on backup navigation methods.
“This was likely GPS jamming to reduce the targeting capability of drones and missiles,” wrote Shaun Robertson, an intelligence analyst at the EOS Risk Group. “However, electronic navigation system interference has been reported in this region previously during periods of increased tension and military exercises.”
China and Russia in Mideast waters patrolled by US Navy
Russia’s Defense Ministry identified the vessels it sent to the drill as the corvettes Rezky and the Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov, as well as the tanker Pechenega. China’s Defense Ministry said it sent the guided-missile destroyer Baotou and the comprehensive supply ship Gaoyouhu. Neither offered a count of the personnel involved.
Neither China nor Russia actively patrol the wider Middle East, whose waterways remain crucial for global energy supplies. Instead, they broadly cede that to Western nations largely led by the US Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet. Observers for the drill included Azerbaijan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the United Arab Emirates — with the Americans likely keeping watch as well.
However, both China and Russia have deep interests in Iran. China has continued to purchase Iranian crude oil despite facing Western sanctions, likely at a discount compared to global prices. Beijing also remains one of the top markets for Iranian imports.
Russia, meanwhile, has relied on Iran for the supply of bomb-carrying drones it uses in its war on Ukraine.
Iran highlights drills to boost public support after clash with Israel
The drills marked a major moment for Iran’s state-run television network. It aired segments showing live fire during a night drill and sailors manning deck guns on a vessel. The exercises come after an Iranian months-long drill that followed unprecedented direct clashes between Iran and Israel last year as the latter battled against Iranian-backed terror groups Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Hamas invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, slaughtered 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 to Gaza, 59 of whom are still held captive. Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel the following day. Both the terror groups and their Iranian patron avowedly seek to destroy Israel.
Iran twice fired barrages of hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones at Israel that were largely thwarted by its air defenses in cooperation with the US and its regional allies.
Israel responded each time with airstrikes on Iran, the second time more heavily, targeting its air defenses and sites associated with its ballistic missile program.
While Tehran sought to downplay the assault, it shook the wider populace and came as Israel ravaged Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” by decimating the leadership of both Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran’s close ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was also overthrown in December, further weakening Iran’s grip on the wider region.
Yemen’s Houthis renew threats to Mideast waterways
Another regional proxy of Iran, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, have meanwhile threatened to resume their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects the two waterways.
The rebels’ secretive leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, warned Friday that attacks against Israel-linked vessels off Yemen would resume within four days if aid didn’t resume to Gaza. That deadline came and went Tuesday. Though no attacks were reported, that again put shippers on edge. The rebels had targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones — few of which were tied to Israel — sinking two vessels in their campaign that has also killed four sailors.
It also fired ballistic missiles and drones directly at Israel, killing one person in Tel Aviv and causing damage in various areas on several occasions, though most of the attacks were intercepted outside of the country’s border.
The Kan public broadcaster said that the Israel Defense Forces was on high alert for a possible renewal of attacks, though the Home Front Command issued no change in instructions to the population.
