Abe says Iran has "no intentions" to make, use nuclear weapons

PanARMENIAN.Net - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has assured Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that Iran has no intention to make, hold or use nuclear weapons, while saying that the country will not negotiate with the United States, Al Jazeera reports.

Abe met Khamenei - Iran's top decision-maker - on Thursday, June 13 during a trip to Iran in an attempt to ease tensions between the Islamic republic and the US.

Following the meeting, which Iranian President Hassan Rouhani appeared to have also attended, Abe told reporters that Khamenei had told him that Iran "will not and should not make, hold or use nuclear weapons, and that it has no such intentions".

Shortly after, Iranian state news agency FARS confirmed the comment, but added that Khamenei had said Iran will not negotiate with the US and did not consider President Donald Trump "worthy" of a message from Tehran.

"I do not see Trump as worthy of any message exchange, and I do not have any reply for him now or in the future," Khamenei was quoted as saying.

The supreme leader also reportedly said that he does not believe Trump's offer of honest negotiations and that he thinks the US president's promise not to seek regime change in Iran is a lie.

The comments likely came as a blow to Abe, who told reporters at a joint press conference with Rouhani on Wednesday, that helping to ease tension in the region was "the one single thought that brought me to Iran".

Abe is completing a two-day visit to Iran, becoming the first sitting Japanese premier to visit the country since its 1979 Islamic Revolution.