![Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei attends Nowruz events in Tehran, Iran on March 21, 2025. [Iranian Leader Press Office - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/AA-20250321-37411856-37411854-IRANS_SUPREME_LEADER_ALI_KHAMENEI-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stressed on Friday: “The Americans should know threats will get them nowhere when confronting Iran,” after US President Donald Trump warned of possible military action against Tehran.
The Supreme Leader made his remarks during his live annual televised speech marking Nowruz, the Persian New Year.
According to the official translation of his speech: “The Americans are threatening us. While we have never started the conflict, if anyone starts it, they should know they will receive hard slaps. America and others should know that if they do anything malign to the Iranian nation, they will get a hard slap.”
Trump revealed on 7 March that he had sent a letter to the Iranian leadership calling for negotiations regarding Tehran’s nuclear programme and warning of possible military action if it refused. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the letter was “more of a threat” and that Tehran would respond soon.
READ: Iran: Trump’s letter presents both threats and opportunities
US news website Axios reported on Wednesday, citing a US official and other sources, that the letter included a “two-month deadline to reach a new nuclear agreement” to replace the 2015 agreement without specifying when this deadline would begin or end.
Khamenei had previously considered the US call for negotiations aimed at deceiving global public opinion by portraying the US as willing to negotiate while Iran appears unwilling to do so.
Upon his return to the White House for a second term in January, Trump reimposed a “maximum pressure” policy by imposing sanctions on Iran, continuing the approach he had followed during his first term.
Trump then unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear agreement reached in 2015 between Iran and world powers and reimposed economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic. While Tehran complied with the 2015 agreement for a year after the US withdrawal, it subsequently began to backtrack on its commitments.
Efforts to revive the agreement under the Joe Biden administration yielded little success.
Tehran has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of direct talks with Washington as long as US sanctions remain.
READ: Trump’s letter to Iran sets 2-month deadline for new nuclear deal: Report