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February 13, 2025 | 11:49 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for the country to further develop its military capabilities after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to use force if Tehran does not engage in negotiations regarding its nuclear program, Al Jazeera reported.
Speaking on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, after visiting an exhibition in the country's capital showcasing the latest developments in the defense sector, Khamenei said, "Progress must not be stopped".
"We cannot be satisfied," Khamenei said. "Say that we previously set a limit for the accuracy of our missiles, but we now feel this limit is no longer enough. We have to go forward."
"Today, our defensive power is well known, our enemies are afraid of this. This is very important for our country," he said.
The statement came after Iran's representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, condemned what he called Trump's "reckless and inflammatory statements" and warned that "any act of aggression will have severe consequences".
In a letter to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Iravani referred to a recent media interview with Trump, in which the U.S. leader suggested that stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons could be done "with bombs or with a written piece of paper".
"I would much rather do a deal that’s not gonna hurt them," Trump told Fox News on Monday, adding, "I’d love to make a deal with them without bombing them."
Tensions have escalated since Trump took office in January and re-imposed a policy of "maximum pressure" on Iran out of concern that the country was seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
In his letter to the UN Security Council, Iravani protested what he described as Trump's "deeply alarming and irresponsible remarks".
"These reckless and inflammatory statements flagrantly violate international law and the UN Charter, particularly Article 2(4), which prohibits threats or use of force against sovereign states," Iravani said in his letter published by Iran's official news agency, IRNA.
He also warned that "any act of aggression will have severe consequences, for which the United States will bear full responsibility".
Tehran asserts that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes and denies any intention to develop nuclear weapons.
During Trump's first term, which ended in 2021, he withdrew from a key agreement that had imposed restrictions on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
Tehran continued to abide by the agreement - known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - for a year after Washington's withdrawal but then began to unravel its commitments.
Iran has also accelerated its uranium enrichment to a purity of 60 percent, approaching the weapons-grade level of 90 percent, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said in December.
Efforts to revive the 2015 agreement during the Biden administration have stalled.
On Friday, Khamenei said there should be no negotiations with the US after Trump suggested achieving a "verified nuclear peace agreement" with Iran.
"No problem will be solved by negotiating with America," Khamenei said, citing past "experience".
Earlier this week, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also questioned the sincerity of the U.S. in seeking negotiations with Tehran.
"Trump says he wants to negotiate, yet at the same time, he signs off on every possible conspiracy to bring this revolution to its knees," Pezeshkian told those gathered in Tehran on Monday to mark the 46th anniversary of the Iranian revolution.
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