Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Iran is open to negotiations with the US but not under pressure, ISNA reported on February 13.

The president made the remarks after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei advised against talks with the US, saying it is neither "wise, nor smart, nor honourable," he made in recent days after Donald Trump issued a new memorandum against the country squeezing oil exports as part of his so-called "maximum pressure" campaign. Iran has been at odds with the US since the 1979 revolution but more recently in 2018 after Trump pulled out of the nuclear agreement, which slowly reduced sanctions on Tehran. Trump, primarily pulled out of the deal due to US companies not gaining access to Iran's resources. 

EU-mediated negotiations during the previous US administration of Joe Biden also reached an impasse and failed to resurrect the deal.

Trump, who is now back in power, has called for a new deal with Iran to prevent the need for military action. He also restored a “maximum pressure” policy in a memorandum signed on February 4, aiming to restrict Iran’s oil revenues.

“We don't say that we won’t talk, but [not] when Trump says you have to do this first, then do that, and then he imposes all the sanctions against us,” Pezeshkian said.

“If you are a man of conversation, why do you act dirty?” he added, claiming that Trump has cut off the country's access to vital resources, including water, food and medicine. Pezeshkian said that the US is not looking for dialogue but wants Iran to be humiliated and degraded. 

Why should our country's entire situation be disrupted by a president's speech from across the world? Why shouldn't we be able to solve our own problems? Who said they can stop us and that we won't be able to pull ourselves up? We just need to believe that we can do it and that they cannot stop us."

Earlier, on February 12, Iran’s foreign ministry also issued a statement, stressing that Iran has never shied away from dialogue but that it is not dignified or wise to negotiate under maximum pressure and threats.

“Iran is committed to finding a diplomatic solution to uphold the rights of the Iranian people and ensure the lifting of sanctions, and will continue to consult with the relevant parties while using all elements of its national power to respond to and confront threats,” it said.

The statement stressed that negotiations with the US, which is applying all-out pressure against Iran and explicitly threatening the country with military action, will not serve the country’s national interests.