Iran sends response to Trump letter

Iranian state media has said that Iran has sent an official response to a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump to the Iranian supreme leader that was seen as an attempt to restart talks over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iran’s IRNA news agency on Thursday that Iran’s official response had been sent through the appropriate channel via Oman.

“The official response comprises a letter wherein our viewpoints regarding the status quo and Mr. Trump’s letter have been fully laid out and relayed to the other side,” the foreign minister said, according to IRNA.

Trump sent a letter to Iran via an emissary from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on March 12. While the content of the letter has not been officially announced, Trump has said he has asked Iran that negotiations be opened into a new deal. The U.S. president pulled the United States from a previous agreement with Iran in 2018.

Araghchi said in his Thursday remarks to IRNA that Iran’s policy is to engage in indirect negotiations as long as the Islamic Republic is subjected to “maximum pressure” and military threats. “Indirect negotiations, though, can continue, as they existed in the past,” he said, according to IRNA.

Last week, Araghchi said Iran’s refusal to negotiate directly with the U.S. government was a tactic, not a strategy. He said ongoing negotiations between Iran and the three European countries of France, Germany, and Britain were essentially indirect talks with the United States.

“In circumstances where there is ‘maximum pressure,’ no one in their sound mind would enter into direct talks,” he said at the time. “The format of negotiations is always relevant in diplomatic relations… For now, our tactic and method is to have indirect negotiations.”

Trump on February 4 signed a presidential memorandum to restore “maximum pressure” on Iran.

Trump has sought to launch talks on Tehran’s nuclear program. In addition to sanctions, Trump also has suggested that military action against Iran remained a possibility, while emphasizing he still believed a new deal could be reached, according to AP.