Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian rejected remarks made by Donald Trump during his Middle East tour, saying the US president is “naive” for thinking Iran will give in.

Axar.az reports, citing CNN, Trump “is naive for thinking that he can come to our region, threaten us, and hope that we back down against his demands. We will never negotiate our dignity. This is in the blood of every Iranian,” Pezeshkian told academics on Wednesday, according to Iranian media.

“You have tried to bring Iran to its knees for the past 47 years. We have existed for thousands of years and will continue as one for the years to come.”

At the Saudi-US investment forum in Riyadh on Tuesday, Trump called Iran the “biggest and most destructive” of forces in the Middle East, saying “enemies get you motivated.”

Trump’s comments come amid nuclear talks between the US and Iran. Trump said he wants to sign a nuclear deal with Iran, but that there will be a price to pay if Tehran rejects a deal.

“If Iran’s leadership rejects this olive branch and continues to attack their neighbors then we will have no choice but to inflict massive maximum pressure,” Trump said.

Trump repeated his threats on Wednesday, saying he doesn’t want nuclear talks in Iran to take a “violent course.”

“I mean, two courses, there’s only two courses. There aren’t three or four or five, there’s two. There’s a friendly and a non-friendly, and non-friendly is a violent course, and I don’t want that. I’ll say it up front. I don’t want that, but they have to get moving.”

Pezeshkian said “Iran will continue its progress with or without a deal.”