Ali Khomeini, grandson of the Islamic Republic’s founder, condemned negotiations with the United States and attacked Iranian officials seeking accommodation with Washington.

“Anyone who wants to negotiate in order to achieve peace with the United States is a traitor,” he declared. “Anyone who sends them messages of friendship has an evil and impure tongue.”

Khomeini said Iran’s conflict with the United States did not begin recently, referring to the 1953 coup, but claimed that the killing of Ali Khamenei had planted “a seed of hatred that will never disappear.”