‘Not just the nuclear program’: Iran’s dictator responds to Trump’s letter

In response to the letter from U.S. President Donald Trump to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei seeking to put the brakes on that nation’s rapidly expanding nuclear program, Khamenei responded at a gathering held during Ramadan and attended by current and former officials, stating belligerently:

“Some bullying governments insist on negotiations. But their goal is not to resolve issues; rather, it is to impose their demands. For them, negotiations are a means to introduce new expectations. The issue is not just the nuclear program; they continue to put forward new demands that Iran will certainly not accept.”

Khamenei elaborated on these “new demands,” citing his country’s “defensive capabilities” – that is, its missile program – and Iran’s “international capabilities” – meaning its various proxy forces throughout the region. He added:

“They tell us: ‘Do not do this, do not meet that person, do not go to that place, do not produce that item, and do not allow your missile range to exceed a certain limit.’ Negotiations are about these matters.”

Khamenei was never going to accept negotiations

From the outset, it was evident Khamenei would reject any negotiations. His regime has faced persistent resistance from the Iranian people for 45 years. In 1988 alone, 30,000 political prisoners were executed, yet these brutal suppressions failed to quell the opposition. To date, more than 100,000 political dissidents have been killed by this regime.

The Iranian regime has consistently pursued aggressive policies and used terrorism as a tool to mask its internal repression. Whenever it feigned interest in negotiations, it was merely a ploy to buy time – ensuring the survival of both its nuclear program and its regional proxy forces.

Unrelenting executions – a sign of desperation

The Iranian regime has resorted to mass executions to suppress growing public unrest. In 2024 alone, more than 1,000 people were executed, and in the first two months of the new year, over 100 additional executions were recorded. This brutal crackdown underscores both the regime’s deep insecurity and the explosive state of Iranian society.

At the same time, the regime has accelerated its nuclear weapons program, using it as leverage to threaten and blackmail the international community. Meanwhile, the Iranian Resistance has uncovered the regime’s secret nuclear sites and exposed their covert plans.

Looming nuclear threat

The alarming rate of executions clearly signals a society on the verge of uprising.

To further intimidate the world, the regime has escalated its nuclear weapons program. The Iranian Resistance has disclosed classified details about these activities, revealing the extent of the regime’s ambitions.

The so-called “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” the 2015 nuclear agreement with the so-called “P5+1 nations” (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) only enabled the regime to move closer to acquiring a nuclear bomb.

As Iranian Resistance leader Maryam Rajavi stated Saturday, addressing the great rally of the Iranian community in Washington, D.C., “The first urgent step to prevent this warmongering and terrorism-exporting regime from acquiring a nuclear bomb is to completely dismantle its nuclear program.”

Failure to do so would pose an immense threat to regional and global stability.

The final and definitive solution

The most effective and least costly solution for both the Iranian people and the international community is an Iranian solution: supporting the country’s organized resistance.

As stated in the U.S. Declaration of Independence: ” …[W]henever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends” – that is, of securing the “unalienable rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” for all – “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Today, over 150 lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives have publicly endorsed the Iranian people’s right to overthrow the Supreme Leader’s regime. Now, more than ever, there is a genuine opportunity to establish a free and democratic Iran. These lawmakers also support the Iranian Resistance’s roadmap for change.

Iran’s organized resistance movement, with thousands of active resistance units across the country, has the capacity to lead this transformation. The struggle of these resistance units to overthrow the regime must be supported – just as the French Resistance was backed in its fight against Nazi fascism.

Now, more than ever, a free and democratic Iran is within reach.