As Operation Roaring Lion entered its third day, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, wrote on the X network Monday morning: "We will not negotiate with the United States."
He denied a report that he had worked to achieve a diplomatic solution. "Trump has brought chaos to the region with his false hopes, and now he is worried about more American losses," according to Larijani. "In his actions, he has turned his slogan, 'America First,' into 'Israel First,' while sacrificing American soldiers. With new lies, he is once again making American soldiers and their families pay the price for his cult of personality."
Although Iran is currently officially run by the "Interim Leadership Council," the New York Times reported just a few days ago that Larijani is one of the most powerful figures in the country, and is in fact running it. He himself announced the establishment of that interim leadership council, but he is not a senior cleric, and the Times emphasized that the chances of him being elected as Khamenei's successor are very low. According to the same report, he was the one who ran Iran in the last few weeks before the Supreme Leader's death, and while pushing out Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
2 View gallery
US President DOnald Trump announces the start of attacks on Iran
(Photo: From Truth Social)
Larijani was referring to U.S. President Donald Trump's statement Sunday that the new leadership in Iran wants to talk to him. "They want to talk, and I agreed to talk, so I will talk to them," the president told The Atlantic magazine. "They should have done it earlier. They should have given what was very practical and easy to do earlier. They waited too long." Asked when his call with the Iranians would take place, the president replied: "I can't tell you that."
Monday morning, in an interview with ABC News, Trump said the U.S. had identified possible candidates to replace Khamenei as Iran's leader - but they were killed in the initial attack. "The attack was so successful that it eliminated most of the candidates. It won't be someone we thought of because they're all dead. Second or third place is dead."