Baku, Azerbaijan, May 6
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the Islamic Republic will not accept nuclear negotiations, if it is running under the shadow of threats.
Khamenei said that the US also needs to negotiate with Iran over the Islamic Republic's nuclear case.
"Their need for negotiation is not less than Iran, but even more," Khamanei said, the supreme leader's official website reported May 6.
He made the remarks during a meeting with a group of teachers from all parts of the country in Tehran on the occasion of the National Teachers' Day.
Khamenei further said that Iranian nuclear negotiators should be committed to the "red lines."
"They should negotiate with respect to the red lines, but should not accept the imposition, humiliation and threats," Khamenei said.
Iran and the P5+1 group (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) have started drafting the text for a final nuclear agreement.
The sides reached a nuclear framework agreement on April 2 in Lausanne that raised hopes for achieving a comprehensive nuclear deal by June 30. The deal provisions the removal of all international sanctions on Iran and in return narrowing the range of the country's nuclear activities.
The US and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon, something that Iran denies.
Follow the author on Twitter: @UmidNiayesh