00:02.
00:20Donald Trump said he'd be honored to meet Iran's supreme leader.
00:24Tehran's answer, not a chance.
00:27It began as a rare, almost conciliatory moment from the American president.
00:33Speaking to reporters at the White House just four days ago,
00:36Trump extended what seemed like an olive branch across one of the world's most fraught divides.
00:41I don't want to meet, but if I did meet, I'd be honored to meet him.
00:45I'd like to see if we make a deal, Trump had said.
00:48I want to meet with the new ayatollah, the new supreme leader.
00:52I don't want to meet, but if I did meet, I'd be honored to meet him.
00:55I'd like to see if we make a deal.
00:57But if we make a deal, it's possible that I would meet him.
01:01I'd be okay with it.
01:02But that happened here in the U.S.?
01:03Oh, I don't know.
01:04I haven't really heard too much about it.
01:07I didn't suggest it, but some people have suggested it.
01:10If it happened, it would be happened.
01:11I'd be respectful.
01:13Do you think because Epic Fury killed his dad and his life and his kid that he's got hard feelings
01:20and wouldn't want to meet?
01:21Well, I would say I'm not his favorite person.
01:24But with that being said, he's probably a professor.
01:27I don't know.
01:28He's probably a professional.
01:30In some circles, he has a very good reputation, actually.
01:33You know, sometimes some people say bad, but a lot of people say bad about me.
01:38It's totally false, of course.
01:39For a moment, it looked like a door, however narrow, had opened.
01:43Tehran wasted no time slamming it shut.
01:47Mohsin Rezaei, a senior military advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, made Tehran's position crystal clear in a CNN interview.
01:56A Trump-Khamenei meeting is simply not going to happen.
02:00Rezaei accused Washington of bringing the negotiations to a complete standstill and said the blame lies squarely with one man.
02:08Trump is not doing enough to win Iran's trust.
02:12That is why the negotiations have reached a deadlock.
02:15Rezaei hit back at Trump.
02:17Trump's overture was significant.
02:19No sitting American president has met with Iran's supreme leader.
02:23It would have been a historic image.
02:25But for Tehran, gestures and photo opportunities aren't enough.
02:29They want concrete action.
02:31And they've spelled out exactly what that looks like.
02:34Rezaei issued two non-negotiable demands.
02:38Lift the naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz and release $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
02:45This is our own money, not America's.
02:48And if none of that happens?
02:50Rezaei issued a stark warning.
02:52Iran is prepared to take the fight far beyond the Gulf.
02:56He said Tehran would expand the conflict into the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and
03:03the Mediterranean, directly targeting American military installations across the region.
03:09He also had a pointed message for the president himself.
03:12Stop letting Israel make your decisions for you.
03:15Trump must make decisions independently of Israel.
03:19If he has the courage, many issues will be resolved.
03:23Rezaei added.
03:24Tonight, the gap between Washington and Tehran looks as wide as ever.
03:29Trump offered a handshake.
03:31Iran replied with a list of demands and a threat.
03:34The question now, does anyone in either capital have the courage or the will to bridge it?
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