US President Donald Trump in a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has demanded a new nuclear agreement within two months. This was revealed to Axios by a US official and two sources familiar with the letter.
The sources said Trump’s letter to Khamenei was “tough.” On the one hand, he offered to negotiate a new nuclear agreement, and on the other hand, he warned of consequences if Iran rejected the offer and continued to advance its nuclear programme.
According to the two sources, Trump said in the letter that he did not want open-ended negotiations and gave a two-month deadline for a deal.
According to the publication, the letter was handed over a few days ago by Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff to United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ) during a meeting in Abu Dhabi. A day later, his envoy visited Tehran and handed the letter to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.Axios writes that before the letter was handed over to the Iranians, the White House briefed several US allies, including Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, on its contents.
The White House declined to comment. Iran’s mission to the U.N. did not respond to requests for comment.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said earlier this week that Trump’s letter was still being studied and Iran’s response was being prepared.
In early March, US President Donald Trump said he sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offering talks. On 8 March, Khamenei, commenting on Trump’s offer to negotiate a nuclear deal, said Tehran would not negotiate under pressure from a “bully country.”
Khamenei said last month that he was opposed to direct talks with Trump, saying he could not be trusted because he withdrew from the nuclear deal.
Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers during his previous presidency.
Last December, the International Atomic Energy Agency warned that Iran was poised to significantly ramp up its production of highly enriched uranium. The IAEA report said the consequence would be “a significant increase in the production of uranium enriched to 60 per cent”.
Although Iran claims its programme is peaceful, Iranian officials have increasingly threatened to build a nuclear bomb and an intercontinental ballistic missile. Experts warn that enriching uranium to 60 per cent is only a small step away from the weapons-grade level of 90 per cent, and say there is no justification for enriching uranium to such a high level in any civilian programme.