Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday endorsed chants of “Death to America” during a speech to workers in Tehran, just one day before Iranian negotiators are set to resume a fourth round of nuclear talks with the United States, Iran International reported.
Last week, US President Donald Trump said he was seeking “total dismantlement” of Iran’s nuclear program, while remaining open to Iran operating a civilian energy program. Two days later, Russia’s Foreign Ministry asserted that Iran—and other non‑nuclear‑weapon states—have a legitimate right to develop civil nuclear energy.
Israeli officials have cautioned that any agreement must fully dismantle Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities or risk repeating the perceived shortcomings of the 2015 nuclear deal.
During his address on Saturday, Khamenei praised the crowd’s support of the anti‑American slogan. “Your judgment is right,” he told the workers after they chanted “Death to America.” He added, “Americans fully support Israel — in the true sense of the word.
In the world of politics, things may be said that suggest otherwise, but that is not the reality,” according to Iran International. Framing Israel’s campaign in Gaza as part of a broader Western war effort, he asserted, “The people of Gaza are not facing Israel alone — they are facing America and Britain."
'An enrichment program can never exist in Iran'
Hardline rhetoric extended into Iran’s state‑aligned press. Kayhan, a daily overseen by Khamenei’s office, ran a full‑page commentary portraying former President Donald Trump as the personification of US power.
“Trump is not a passing phenomenon,” the paper wrote. “He is a framework based on narcissism, superiority delusions, and threat‑based tactics,” warning that American diplomatic gestures are “a tool for deception, not an indication of true boundaries."
In Washington, Trump’s special envoy at the talks, Steve Witkoff, set out the maximalist conditions for any agreement. “An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That’s our red line,” Witkoff told Breitbart News on Friday. “No enrichment. That means dismantlement.”
He insisted that Iran’s nuclear sites at Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan be completely dismantled, warning that if Sunday’s discussions were “not productive, then they won’t continue and we’ll have to take a different route,” and adding, “They cannot have centrifuges, they cannot have anything that allows them to build a weapon” .
Negotiators prepare to meet in Vienna on May 11, while Tehran continues with defiant rhetoric and Washington insists on full nuclear dismantlement.