DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) ā President sent a letter to Iran's Supreme Leader , seeking a new deal with Tehran to restrain its rapidly advancing nuclear program and replace the agreement he withdrew America from in his first term in office.
Iranian state media immediately picked up on Trump's acknowledgment, given in excerpts from a Fox Business ¾¢±¬“ó¹Ļ interview aired on Friday, though there was no confirmation from Khamenei's office that any letter had been received. The interview airs in full on Sunday.
It remained unclear how the 85-year-old supreme leader would react, given that former President Barack Obama had ahead of the start of negotiations that led to Tehran's 2015 deal with world powers.
In comments to reporters in the Oval Office later on Friday, Trump did not mention the letter directly but made a veiled reference, saying, āWe have a situation with Iran that, somethingās going to happen very soon. Very, very soon.ā
āHopefully we can have a peace deal,ā Trump said. āIām not speaking out of strength or weakness. Iām just saying Iād rather see a peace deal then the other. But the other will solve the problem.ā
He's suggested that the alternative to a negotiated resolution would be the U.S. threatening to intervene military in Iran.
Trump's overture comes as both Israel and the United States have warned they will never let Iran acquire a nuclear weapon, leading to fears of a military confrontation as Tehran enriches uranium at near weapons-grade levels ā something only sought by atomic-armed nations.
In the Fox Business interview, Trump said, āIāve written them a letter saying, āI hope youāre going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, itās going to be a terrible thing.'" He said he'd sent the letter on Thursday.
Trump's outreach comes amid tensions
The White House confirmed that Trump's letter to Iranās leaders is seeking to negotiate a nuclear deal. The president's comments in the Oval Office echoed his sentiments from the interview, which was taped on Thursday.
āI would rather negotiate a deal. Iām not sure that everybody agrees with me, but we can make a deal that would be just as good as if you won militarily," Trump said in the interview. "But the time is happening now. The time is coming up. Somethingās going to happen one way or the other.ā
āI hope youāre going to negotiate because, itās going to be a lot better for Iran and I think they want to get that letter," he added. "The other alternative is we have to do something because you canāt let them have a nuclear weapon.ā
Trump offered no details of what, if anything, was specifically offered to Iran in the letter.
The move recalled Trump's letter-writing to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his first term, which led to face-to-face meetings, but and a missile program capable of reaching the continental U.S.
Iran long has maintained its program is for peaceful purposes, even as its officials increasingly threaten to pursue the bomb as tensions are high with the U.S. over its sanctions and with Israel as a shaky ceasefire holds in .
U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program, but has āundertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.ā
Since Trump returned to the White House, his administration has consistently said that Iran must be prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons. A report last month, however, by of near weapons-grade uranium.
Trumpās first term in office was marked by a particularly troubled period in relations with Tehran. In 2018, he unilaterally withdrew the United States from Iranās nuclear deal with world powers, leading to sanctions hobbling Iran's economy. ā including one that it likely carried out and that .
Trump also ordered the attack that in January 2020.
Iran's enriched uranium stockpile surges
Under the original 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium only up to 3.67% purity and maintain a stockpile of uranium of 300 kilograms (661 pounds). The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran's program put its stockpile at 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds) as it enriches a fraction of it to 60% purity.
Iranās accelerated production of near weapons-grade uranium puts more pressure on Trump as heās repeatedly said heās open to negotiations with the Islamic Republic while also increasingly targeting Iranās oil sales with sanctions as part of his .
Khamenei in a speech last August , saying there is āno harmā in engaging with the āenemy.ā That came after in June, who campaigned on promises of an outreach to the West.
However, more recently , saying that negotiations with America āare not intelligent, wise or honorable,ā after Trump floated nuclear talks with Tehran. Pezeshkian has followed suit, pledging to abide by Khamenei's orders.
Whether Khamenei would accept a letter remains in question. A previous attempt in 2019 for Trump to exchange a letter to Khamenei through the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe saw the supreme leader declare: āI do not consider Trump personally worthy of exchanging any messages, nor do I have any response for him, and I never will.ā
But it also remains unclear how Iran will handle further pressure. The fallen in value. Unemployment and underemployment remain rampant. Meanwhile, women have continued their defiance of laws on the mandatory headscarf, or hijab, and continue to go without the head-covering, two years after , sparked nationwide protests.
Israel and Iran also have traded direct attacks during the Israel-Hamas war, while partners in Tehran's self-described āAxis of Resistanceā are reeling after the assassinations of their leaders by Israel. In Israel itself, officials have suggested striking Iran's nuclear program now, something Trump has threatened while still insisting he'd prefer reaching a diplomatic deal with Tehran.
Later Friday, Iranās permanent mission to the United Nations in New York said it had not received any letter from Trump, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
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Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
Jon Gambrell And Will Weissert, The Associated Press
