"Keep Dreaming": Khamenei Slams Trump Over Nuclear Sites "Obliterated" Claim

Iran has rejected an offer of renewed talks from the United States and denied US President Donald Trump's assertion that the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities were destroyed in an airstrike in June this year. In a statement, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Washington of "imposition and bullying", saying the outcome of the deal that Trump was offering was "predetermined".

Tehran and Washington engaged in five rounds of indirect nuclear negotiations that ended with the 12-day air war in June, in which Israel and the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites.

"Trump says he is a dealmaker, but if a deal is accompanied by coercion and its outcome is predetermined, it is not a deal but rather an imposition and bullying," Khamenei said in a post on X. 

Last week, Trump told the Israeli parliament that it would be great if Washington could negotiate a "peace deal" with Tehran, following the start of a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas.

"The US president proudly says they bombed and destroyed Iran's nuclear industry. Very well, keep dreaming!" Khamenei said.

"What does it have to do with America whether Iran has nuclear facilities or not? These interventions are inappropriate, wrong and coercive."

Western powers accuse Iran of covertly trying to develop a nuclear bomb through the enrichment of uranium and want it to cease such activity. Tehran denies seeking to weaponise enrichment, saying the programme has solely civilian energy purposes.

Khamenei claimed Iran was in the midst of a soft war and accused Trump of trying to break the morale of Iranians with his assertions. 

"In a soft war, the enemy tries to make the people depressed and to lose all hope of their own abilities... The US President tried to give hope and boost the morale of the disappointed Zionists in Occupied Palestine with a handful of empty words and his buffoonery. This is my analysis of the US President's trip to Occupied Palestine," he said. 

The Iranian leader further claimed that during Iran's 12-day war with Israel, Israeli forces "were struck such a hard blow that they couldn't believe it. They weren't expecting it, and they've lost hope. The US President travelled to occupied Palestine to pull them out of their despair."

He further said that Iranian missiles were able to "penetrate the depths of several of the Zionist regime's important centres to destroy them."

Dubbing the US a 'terror state', Khamenei accused Washington of being the main accomplice in the war crimes taking place in Gaza.

"US resources and weaponry have been made abundantly available to the Zionist regime so they could be dropped on the defenceless people of Gaza. The US is an accomplice in this crime. The US President says that they're fighting terrorism. But more than 20,000 children and infants have been martyred in these attacks," he said. 

"The US President says they're fighting terrorism. Children as young as four years old, five years old, and newborns - you've killed [over] 20,000 of them! Were these children terrorists? You're the terrorists!"

The Iranian leader also accused the US of sponsoring terror groups like Daesh and "unleashing" them on West Asia. Daesh is a term used for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a Salafi jihadist terror group that previously controlled large territories in Iraq and Syria.

"You, the US, are the terrorists who've created Daesh and unleashed them on West Asia. You keep them in reserve to use them one day. A number of the Daesh elements are currently under the control of the US. They're being held somewhere to be used wherever they wish at any time," he said. 

Khamenei questioned what authority Washington has to dictate which country can possess a nuclear industry. "What position do you hold in the world? How is it any of America's business whether Iran has nuclear capabilities and a nuclear industry or not?" he asked further.