If Iran wanted nukes 'America couldn't do anything about it' – Ayatollah Khamenei

Although Tehran does not want a nuclear bomb, if it did the US would not be able to stop them, Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned, saying talks with Washington would hardly yield any results.

The Supreme Leader’s comments came on Thursday during discussions with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, making it clear he was not interested in receiving the personal message the Japanese leader brought from US President Donald Trump.

I personally do not consider Trump worthy of exchanging any messages with, and do not have and will not have any response for him.

Khamenei said he did not want to “repeat the bitter experience” of the 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump ditched unilaterally after taking office. Despite Washington declaring a sudden urge to sit down for “honest negotiations,” Khamenei noted that “honesty is highly scarce among American statesmen.”

Despite saying that Tehran is unlikely to sit down for new talks with the US anytime soon, the Iranian leader made it clear that his country still opposed construction of a nuclear bomb… albeit on their own terms.

I have issued a fatwa (religious decree) prohibiting the production of nuclear weapons, but you need to know that if we were after building nuclear arms, the United States could not do anything about it.

Although things seem to be deadlocked when it comes to relations with the US, Abe’s visit was hailed as productive in developing closer ties between Iran and Japan. Abe told reporters afterwards that Iran had promised not to develop a nuclear weapon, and praised Khamenei’s belief in peace.

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