Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei remarked that Iran “is being accused by the most vicious government of the world, i.e. the U.S.... The most abhorred figures of such a government accuse the Iranian nation and disparage them. The Iranian nation won’t give in to these insults and won’t retreat”. He also held that “the Iranian nation is being oppressed by these cruel sanctions, but it is not weakened, and commands authority”. Khamenei went on to assert that “negotiation is an effort to deceive [Iran] into doing what the U.S. desires... If you accept their request, you will suffer the worst things, and if you don’t accept it, you will face the huff and puff and their hassles over human rights excuses”.