Iran hits back at Donald Trump in fiery tirade over White House meeting claim: ‘Warmonger clinging to relevance’

Iran has firmly denied US President Donald Trump’s assertion that officials from the Islamic Republic had suggested sending a delegation to the White House for negotiations. In a sharp rebuke, the Iranian Mission to the United Nations said Tehran would not negotiate “under duress.”

“No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House,” the mission posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Iran: ‘We don’t negotiate under duress’

Responding to Trump’s remarks made earlier on Wednesday, the Iranian mission issued a strongly worded statement, rejecting both the premise and tone of the US President’s comments.

“Iran does NOT negotiate under duress, shall NOT accept peace under duress, and certainly NOT with a has-been warmonger clinging to relevance,” the statement read.

The mission also condemned Trump’s threat to “take out” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling it “cowardly.”

“The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat,” the Iranian statement continued.

“Iran shall respond to any threat with a counter-threat, and to any action with reciprocal measures.”

Trump: “They want to negotiate”

Earlier in the day, President Trump told reporters at the White House that Iran was now eager to reopen nuclear negotiations and had even proposed a visit to Washington.

“They even suggested they would come to the White House. That is courageous and not easy for them to do,” Trump said.

“Why didn’t they negotiate two weeks ago? They could have done fine… It is very sad to watch this.”

Despite claiming Iran had reached out for talks, Trump added a note of skepticism about the timing.

“It is very late to be talking,” he said. “There is a big difference between now and a week ago.”

Khamenei warns of consequences

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei directly responded to Trump’s demand for “unconditional surrender” in a televised speech on Wednesday, stating that Iran will not give in to pressure.

“The Islamic Republic will not surrender,” Khamenei declared.

“If the U.S. takes military action, it will undoubtedly cause irreparable consequences to them.”

Trump hedges on military action

When asked by reporters whether he was planning a strike against Iran, Trump gave an ambiguous reply.

“You don’t know that I’m going to even do it. You don’t know; I may do it. I may not do it. Nobody knows what I’m going to do,” he said.

“Iran’s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.”