Iran says not received Trump’s letter on nuclear programme negotiations

Iran says it has yet to receive a letter from President Donald Trump after the US leader said he had sent one seeking talks with the country’s leadership about its nuclear programme.

“We have not received such a letter so far,” a spokesman for Iran’s embassy said on Friday.The comments come after Trump said he sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, seeking negotiations over a new deal with Tehran to restrain its rapidly advancing nuclear programme.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the prospect of nuclear negotiations with the US if Tehran remains under heavy sanctions from Washington.

“We will not enter any direct negotiations with the US so long as they continue their maximum pressure policy and their threats,” Araghchi told the AFP news agency.

Since taking office in January, Trump’s administration has levied sanctions against Iran – including on the country’s oil network – as part of his “maximum pressure” strategy.

Iranian state media immediately picked up on Trump’s comments, given in portions of a Fox Business News interview aired on Friday, though there was no confirmation from Khamenei’s office that any letter had been received. The interview is expected to air in full on Sunday.It remained unclear how the 85-year-old supreme leader would react, given that former President Barack Obama had kept his letters to Khamenei secret before the start of negotiations that led to Tehran’s 2015 deal with world powers.

Khamenei in a speech last August opened the door to talks with the US, saying there is “no harm” in engaging with the “enemy.” That came after Iran elected reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian in June, who campaigned on promises to negotiate a new deal with world powers, similar to the country’s 2015 deal which Trump withdrew from in 2018.

Trump’s acknowledgement comes as both Israel and the United States have warned they will not let Iran acquire a nuclear weapon, leading to fears of a military confrontation as Tehran enriches uranium at near-weapons-grade levels – a purity only sought by atomic-armed nations.