Instead of seeking compromise, Washington merely uses negotiations to pressurise Iran to submit, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said a day before Tehran is set to boost uranium production beyond what was agreed in the 2015 deal.

Offering talks is just another way for the US to strong-arm Iran into surrendering its position, Khamenei warned on Wednesday.

Negotiations are their way of deceiving [you] into [giving them] what they want. You hold the gun and the other side doesn’t dare approach you; so, they say drop your gun so that I can do harm to you. This is what they mean by negotiations.

Khamenei said that Washington has “failed to achieve their goals by pressuring” Iran and will continue to do so in the future.

Negotiations are their way of deceiving into what they want. You hold the gun and the other side doesn’t dare approach you; so they say drop your gun so that I can do any harms to you. This is what they mean by negotiations. — Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 26, 2019

A day earlier, US National Security Advisor John Bolton claimed that the US is “holding the door open for real negotiations” with Tehran. To seize on this opportunity Iran must fulfill a laundry list of various US demands, including ending “malignant behavior worldwide,” he said.

Tehran for its part says it keeps the door open for any talks, but made clear that no meaningful negotiations are possible, as long as Washington keeps imposing sanctions and sticks to its “maximum pressure.”

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The longstanding conflict between Washington and Tehran began escalating last year after the US unilaterally left the 2015 nuclear deal on Iran, known as the JCPOA. In May, Iran warned the European Union, also a signatory of the agreement, that it will partially suspend its obligations under the deal, unless the Europeans negotiate the lifting of the US sanctions.

Iran later clarified that on June 27 its production of enriched uranium will surpass the 300kg limit, set by the JCPOA. The spokesperson for the nation’s nuclear energy agency, Behrouz Kamalvandi, confirmed that the deadline will expire on Thursday. From that point, the uranium stockpile will continue to grow, he said.

With the end of this deadline [on June 27], the pace of enrichment will speed up.

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