Iran’s Foreign Minister Rejects Trump’s Demand That He Pick The Next Supreme Leader: ‘We’ll Allow Nobody To Interfere’

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News’s Meet The Press Sunday that he unequivocally rejected President Donald Trump’s demand to be involved in picking the country’s next supreme leader.

“I have to ask you the big question on everyone’s mind: Who is in charge in Iran right now?” Moderator Kristen Welker asked.

“Well, it is already known, the Interim Council is now in charge,” Araghchi said, adding that “a new supreme leader is going to be elected soon by the Assembly of Experts.”

The Jerusalem Post reported that earlier Sunday, “Assembly of Experts member Ahmad Alamolhoda had announced that the choice had been made,” and that Mojtaba Khamenei would succeed his father, the assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Araghchi did not confirm the report when asked by Welker.

“Nobody knows, actually. There are lots of rumors around, but, we have to wait for that,” Araghchi said.

“All right, President Trump said he should pick the new leader of Iran. Will Iran allow President Trump to have any role in picking its new leader?” Welker asked.

“We allow nobody to interfere in our domestic affairs,” Araghchi said. “This is up to the Iranian people to elect their new leader. They have already elected the Assembly of Experts,and the Assembly of Experts will do the job. It is only the business of the Iranian people and nobody else’s business.”

Regarding Trump’s demand for “unconditional surrender,” Araghchi said, “This is what [Trump] asked the previous time in June, when Israel started to attack us, President Trump used the same phrase, ‘unconditional surrender.’ That was the tweet he made. And that didn’t happen.”

“We resisted and after 12 days Israelis asked for ‘unconditional ceasefire.’ So, we never give up, we never surrender, and we continue to resist as long as it takes. And, we are defending our territory, our people, and our dignity. And our dignity is not for sale,” Araghchi said.

Watch the clip above via NBC News’s Meet The Press.

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