Iran’s President Massoud Pezheskian said Tehran will not be able to ignore its biggest enemy, the United States, and must “she deals with her enemies with longsuffering“, as state media reported today, one week after Donald Trump won the US presidential election.

“Like it or not, we will have to deal with the US in the regional and international arena, so it is better to manage this relationship ourselves” said Pezeskian, who is considered a relatively moderate.

“We should treat our friends with generosity and treat our enemies with magnanimity».

In 2018, then-President Trump withdrew the United States from the deal Tehran had reached with international powers over its nuclear program and reinstated harsh sanctions as part of his policy of exerting “maximum pressure” on Iran.

While there is no word on whether the Trump administration plans to hold talks with Tehran after taking office in January, the US president-elect said on the campaign trail “i don’t want to hurt Iran but it can’t have nuclear weapons».

Indirect talks between Washington and Tehran to revive the deal had begun under the administration of US President Joe Biden, but failed. Iran is still officially part of the deal but has backed away from commitments to abide by it due to the US reimposing sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Earlier today, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said Iran will pursue whatever secures its interest, responding to a question about whether direct talks with the Trump administration could take place.

He pointed out that the final decision on talks rests with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Supreme National Security Council.

“Trump’s maximum pressure campaign has failed, even if some people have been burdened by it. Actions, not words, will be important, but we recommend that Trump consider the failure of his past policiesMohajerani added.