No negotiations with U.S., says Khamenei

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday there would be no point to any negotiations with the United States, just days ahead of the 40th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

The hostage-taking, which took place soon after the Iranian Revolution in 1979, set the tone for decades of mistrust and poor ties between Washington and Tehran.

"Even if Iranian officials were naive enough to engage in negotiations with the U.S., they would certainly not achieve anything," Khamenei said.  

The negotiations would not lead to a change in the current U.S. policy of maximum pressure on Tehran, nor the lifting of U.S. sanctions, he said. [embed:render:embedded:node:32638]

As the country's supreme leader, Khamenei has the final say in all political issues under the Iranian constitution. Iran is planning to mark the takeover of the embassy with a state-organised demonstration.

Students seized the embassy in November 1979 in protest at the decision to allow the toppled Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi into the United State for medical treatment.  

The shah was installed in a coup in 1953 partly orchestrated by British secret services and the CIA in the United States.   

The government of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has not excluded talks with Washington, but said that they could only take place if the U.S. lifts its sanctions and returns to a 2015 nuclear deal.  

President Donald Trump dealt the accord a major blow by pulling the U.S. out of the deal in 2018.    (dpa)