Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, today called on the United States (US) to leave the Middle East.
"The countries of the region (Middle East) are determined that America should leave the region and will leave it," Khamenei said in a televised speech to Iranian teachers in Tehran.
Khamenei today condemned US support for Israel in its war in Gaza against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
"Trump says he wants to use power to bring peace, but he lied. He and the US administration used power to massacre in Gaza, to wage war wherever they can," Khamenei said.
He said the US gave Israel ten-ton bombs "to drop on children, hospitals, homes in Gaza and people in Lebanon, and wherever else they can."
Khamenei, who decides on all Iranian state matters, reiterated his usual stance against Israel: "The Zionist regime (Israel) which is a dangerous, cancerous and deadly tumor should be eradicated and it will be," the Iranian supreme leader said.
Khamenei has long viewed the US military presence in the region as a threat on his doorstep, especially after Trump withdrew the US from an international agreement on Iran's nuclear program and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.
During his visit to Saudi Arabia, Trump, on the other hand, criticized Iranian leaders and Iran's regional role: "Iranian leaders are focused on stealing the wealth of their own people to fund terrorism and bloodshed around the world."
Since April 12, Iran and the United States have been negotiating a new agreement on Iran's nuclear program, mediated by Oman. This is the highest level of contact between the two countries since 2018 and Washington's withdrawal from the international agreement on the Iranian nuclear deal reached three years earlier.
Khamenei hit back today that some of Trump's remarks during his Middle East tour "do not deserve a response."
The US president confirmed in Qatar on Thursday that Washington and Tehran were approaching an agreement on Iran's nuclear program, and a day later he called on Iran to "move away" from its positions, or, as he threatened, "something bad will happen."
Iranian President Masoud Peshmerga said today that his country will continue negotiations with the United States on its nuclear program, but that it will not give up its rights because of American threats.
"We negotiate and we will negotiate, we are not for war, but we do not fear any threat," Pezeshkiyan said in a speech to Navy officers.
The talks have reached the expert level, meaning the two sides are trying to agree on the details of a possible deal. But the main obstacle remains Iran's uranium enrichment, which Tehran demands, while the Trump administration insists that Iran must give up.
Iran constantly reiterates that its nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes and is under constant supervision by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
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