“I do not see the person of Trump worthy of exchanging any messages and I have no response for him and will not have any,” Khamenei told Abe, according to a statement published on the supreme leader’s website, which omitted Abe’s comments and only alluded to the their content.
“We have no doubt about your seriousness and good intentions and … we see Japan as a friendly country.”
Abe travelled to Tehran on Wednesday hoping to use the opportunity reduce tensions between Iran and United States.
Tensions escalated further on Thursday morning when explosions struck two tankers close to the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
In a joint press conference with Rouhani on Wednesday night, Abe warned the crisis could spiral out of control.
“At the moment tension is rising. We should do anything we can to prevent an accidental conflict from happening and Iran should play its constructive role,” Abe said.
“There is possibility of an accidental conflict and a military conflict should be prevented at all costs.”
Khamenei appears to have dashed Abe’s hopes of acting as go-between to reduce tensions. The fact that Japan decided to shop for oil elsewhere after the US refused to renew its sanctions waiver did not help.
Abe received similar message from President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday. Rouhani said Iran would not start a war, but if attacked it would respond harshly to any aggressor.
Abe conveyed the message from Trump that his intention is not regime change in Iran.
Khamenei responded: “Our problem with the Americans is not the regime change, because even if they had such an intention, they would not be able to carry it out the same way the previous American presidents over the last 40 years have tried to destroy the Islamic Republic of Iran but could not.”
The US withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, claiming the landmark accord did not go far enough to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Khamenei repeated the fatwa that it is not religiously sanctioned to build a nuclear weapon but added “if we had the intention of building a nuclear weapon, America would not have been able to do anything, and the lack of American permission would not create any obstacle.”
Khamenei said Iran does not believe in “genuine negotiation” coming from an individual like Trump. “We will never repeat the bitter experience of negotiation of the recent years with America.”
Trump has said his door is open for negotiations with Tehran. Iranian officials have said they will not negotiate until sanctions are lifted.
