Iran will not kneel to pressure from Trump, President Masoud Pezeshkian says

Leader says Tehran does not seek war but will not yield to foreign powers

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has criticised the US over sanctions imposed on Tehran. Reuters

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused US President Donald Trump of seeking to bring Iran “to its knees” on Monday as the country marks the 46th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

“Trump says, 'We want to talk', and then he signs in a memorandum all the conspiracies to bring our revolution to its knees,” Mr Pezeshkian said, referring to Mr Trump's reinstatement of sanctions against Tehran this month.

“If the US were sincere about negotiations, why did they sanction us?” he added, saying it was Israel, not Iran, destabilising the Middle East. "They spread propaganda that the country has been weak. We are strong. We never bow to the foreigners."

He said Tehran “does not seek war … but will not yield to foreign pressure”.

Mr Trump last week restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that includes tightened sanctions and efforts to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But he said that he was open to a deal and expressed a willingness to talk to Mr Pezeshkian.

The Iranian leader said Israel, with the support of the US, is the main cause of “insecurity and bombing of the oppressed people of Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and wherever it wants”.

He said Iran would stand against bullying and intimidation, and that under supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “we will stand against conspiracies and division".

State television showed hundreds of thousands of people turning out to mark the anniversary of the 1979 revolution in a rally that Iran's clerical establishment described as a chance to show unity amid mounting US and Israeli pressure.

Demonstrators chanted “death to America” and “death to Israel” in cities and towns across the country, repeating the ritual chant of the revolution that toppled the US-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and swept the Shiite clergy to power.

The annual commemoration of the creation of Iran's theocracy comes as uncertainty lingers across the nation.

Iran faces heavy sanctions and the threat of more coming from Mr Trump's White House, even as the US President suggests he wants to reach a deal over the country's nuclear programme.

Iran's currency fell to a record low of 928,500 rials to $1 in aftermarket trading on Monday, a drop of more than 6 per cent from Friday.

Mr Khamenei has criticised any proposed talks with the US and described negotiations with America as “not intelligent, wise or honourable”.

He suggested “there should be no negotiations with such a government”, although he stopped short of issuing a direct order not to engage with Washington.