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Khamenei: US Talks 'Not Intelligent, Wise or Honorable'

A handout photo made available by the Iranian Supreme Leader's office shows Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reacting during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, 28 January 2025. EPA/IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER OFFICE / HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the Iranian Supreme Leader's office shows Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reacting during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, 28 January 2025. EPA/IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER OFFICE / HANDOUT
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Khamenei: US Talks 'Not Intelligent, Wise or Honorable'

A handout photo made available by the Iranian Supreme Leader's office shows Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reacting during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, 28 January 2025. EPA/IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER OFFICE / HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the Iranian Supreme Leader's office shows Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reacting during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, 28 January 2025. EPA/IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER OFFICE / HANDOUT

Iran's supreme leader said Friday that negotiations with America “are not intelligent, wise or honorable” after President Donald Trump floated nuclear talks with Tehran.
According to The Associated Press, Ali Khamenei also suggested that “there should be no negotiations with such a government,” but stopped short of issuing a direct order not to engage with Washington.
Khamenei's remarks to air force officers in Tehran appeared to contradict his own earlier remarks that opened the door to talks.
Khamenei always has carefully threaded his remarks about negotiating with the West.
For months before and after the US election that saw Trump reclaim the White House, Iranian officials appeared to be signaling that they are waiting for a message from Trump on whether he wants to negotiate over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. At stake are potentially billions of dollars withheld from Iran through crushing sanctions and the future of a program on the precipice of enriching weapons-grade uranium.
For his part, even when signing an executive order to reimpose his “maximum pressure on Iran” on Tuesday, Trump suggested he wanted to deal with Tehran.
“I’m going to sign it, but hopefully we’re not going to have to use it very much,” he said from the Oval Office. “We will see whether or not we can arrange or work out a deal with Iran.”
“We don’t want to be tough on Iran. We don’t want to be tough on anybody,” Trump added. “But they just can’t have a nuclear bomb.”
Trump followed with another online message on Wednesday, saying: “Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED.”
“I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper,” he wrote on Truth Social. “We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed.”
Trump did not elaborate.
Earlier in the week, Trump also said that displaced Palestinians in Gaza could be permanently resettled outside the war-torn territory and proposed the US take “ownership” in redeveloping the area into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
While not directly linking Trump's comments on Gaza, Khamenei appeared to be referencing them in his remarks as well.
“The Americans sit, redrawing the map of the world — but only on paper, as it has no basis in reality," Khamenei said. “They make statements about us, express opinions and issue threats. If they threaten us, we will threaten them in return. If they act on their threats, we will act on ours. If they violate the security of our nation, we will, without a doubt, respond in kind.”

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South Korea Struggles to Contain Wildfires that Have Killed 26

A view of the burnt remains of a building destroyed by wildfires at the Namhu Agricultural Industrial Complex in Andong city, South Korea, 27 March 2025. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN
A view of the burnt remains of a building destroyed by wildfires at the Namhu Agricultural Industrial Complex in Andong city, South Korea, 27 March 2025. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN
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South Korea Struggles to Contain Wildfires that Have Killed 26

A view of the burnt remains of a building destroyed by wildfires at the Namhu Agricultural Industrial Complex in Andong city, South Korea, 27 March 2025. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN
A view of the burnt remains of a building destroyed by wildfires at the Namhu Agricultural Industrial Complex in Andong city, South Korea, 27 March 2025. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN

Helicopters dumped water over a burning forest in South Korea on Thursday as fire crews struggled to contain the country's worst-ever wildfires, which have killed 26 people, forced at least 37,000 others to flee their homes and destroyed more than 300 structures.

Multiple wildfires fueled by strong winds and dry weather have been raging across South Korea's southeastern regions since last Friday.

The government has mobilized thousands of personnel, dozens of helicopters and other equipment to extinguish the blazes, but gusty winds are hampering their efforts, The Associated Press reported.

Rain was expected later Thursday. But Korea Forest Service chief Lim Sang-seop said the amount — less than 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) is forecast — likely won't help much in extinguishing the wildfires.

The fatalities include a pilot whose helicopter crashed during efforts to contain a fire Wednesday and four firefighters and other workers who died earlier after being trapped by fast-moving flames.

Authorities haven't disclosed details of the civilian dead, except that they are mostly in their 60s or older who found it difficult to escape quickly or who even refused orders to evacuate. They suspect human error caused several of the wildfires, including cases where people started fires while clearing overgrown grass from family tombs or with sparks during welding work.

Lee Han-kyung, deputy head of the government's disaster response center, told a meeting Thursday that the wildfires have again disclosed “the reality of climate crisis that we have yet experienced,” according to Yonhap news agency. Calls to his center were unanswered.

Scientists say the warming atmosphere around the world is driving ever more extreme weather events, including wildfires, flooding, droughts, hurricanes and heat waves that are killing people and causing billions of dollars in damage every year.

The wildfires have burned 36,010 hectares (88,980 acres) of land, the disaster response center said Thursday. Observers say that's the worst figure of its kind in South Korea. The report said the blazes have also injured 30 people, eight of them seriously, destroyed 325 buildings and structures and forced more than 37,180 people to evacuate.

As of Thursday morning, the center said authorities were mobilizing more than 9,000 people and about 120 helicopters to battle the wildfires.

In Cheongsong, one of the fire-hit areas, thick plumes of smoke were bellowing from Juwang Mountain on Thursday morning. Helicopters repeatedly hovered over the mountain, dropping water. The amount of smoke later appeared to have diminished.

At a Buddhist temple near the mountain, workers covered a stone pagoda and other structures with fire-resistant materials, while firefighters poured water on sites near the temple.

The hardest-hit areas include Andong city and the neighboring counties of Uiseong and Sancheong, and the city of Ulsan.

On Wednesday night, strong winds and smoke-filled skies forced authorities in the southeastern city of Andong to order evacuations in two villages, including Puncheon, home to the Hahoe folk village — a UNESCO World Heritage Site founded around the 14th-15th century. Hikers were advised to leave the scenic Jiri Mountain as another fire spread closer.

The fires in the past week have destroyed houses, factories and some historic structures. In Uiseong, about 20 of the 30 structures at the Gounsa temple complex, which was said to be originally built in the 7th century, have burned. Among them were two state-designated “treasures” — a pavilion-shaped building erected overlooking a stream in 1668, and a Joseon dynasty structure built in 1904 to mark the longevity of a king.

The Korea Forest Service wildfire warning is at its highest level, requiring local governments to assign more workers to emergency response, tighten entry restrictions for forests and parks, and recommend that military units withhold live-fire exercises.