Iran’s top security official Ali Larijani said Tehran would not negotiate with the United States, hardening the country’s stance after U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“We will not negotiate with the United States,” Larijani said in a post on X on Monday, dismissing media reports that Tehran had sought dialogue through intermediaries following the weekend attacks.

Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, also accused U.S. President Donald Trump of plunging the region into chaos and spreading “false hopes” about diplomacy.

His comments came as fighting intensified across the region. Israel launched a fresh wave of strikes on Tehran on Sunday, while Iran and allied groups fired missile barrages at Israel and U.S.-linked targets across the Middle East.

Trump said overnight that U.S. and Israeli military operations would continue and could last several weeks, warning Iran’s leadership and security forces to surrender or face further strikes.

The escalation followed the killing of Khamenei in coordinated U.S.-Israeli attacks over the weekend, which Iran said crossed a “dangerous red line” and left it with no option but to respond. 

Larijani’s rejection of negotiations marks a sharp reversal from just days earlier, when Iranian officials had still publicly held out the possibility of a nuclear deal with Washington if diplomacy were prioritised.