Iran said Monday it would not negotiate under "intimidation", after US President Donald Trump sought to ratchet up pressure on Tehran by ending a sanctions waiver that had allowed Iraq to buy electricity from its Shiite neighbour.

The United States has ended a sanctions waiver that allowed Iraq to buy electricity from neighboring Iran, in line with President Donald Trump's policy of exerting "maximum pressure" on Tehran.In a statement Sunday,

Khamenei did not identify the United States by name but said a “bullying government” was being persistent in its push for talks.

Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox Business that he had written a letter to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, asking that negotiations be reopened.

Following President Pezeshkian's statement, hopes for negotiations between Washington and Tehran regarding Iran's nuclear program have dimmed.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks under a portrait of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, as armed forces commander slisten, at rear, in a ceremony meeting a group of officials, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)