WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said he has written a letter to the leadership of Iran saying he wants to negotiate a nuclear deal with the country.
“I’ve written them a letter, saying I hope you’re going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily it’s going to be a terrible thing for them,” Trump told Fox Business in a clip broadcast Friday.
“You can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.” “I think they want to get that letter. The other alternative is we have to do something because you can’t let another nuclear weapon,” he said.
“There are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal,” Trump said. “I would prefer to make a deal because I’m not looking to hurt Iran. They’re great people,” he said.
Trump’s comments come as his administration intensifies pressure on Tehran with renewed economic sanctions and enforcement measures aimed at curbing Iran’s oil exports.
No talks with US under maximum pressure policy: Iran FM
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister of Iran Abbas Araghchi has said Iran will not resume negotiations with the United States on its nuclear programme while President Donald Trump applies his “maximum pressure” policy.
“We will not enter any direct negotiations with the US so long as they continue their maximum pressure policy and their threats,” he told AFP on the sidelines of an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Jeddah.
He added that Iran’s nuclear programme ‘cannot be destroyed’ militarily.
“Iran’s nuclear programme cannot be destroyed through military operations… this is a technology that we have achieved, and the technology is in the brains and cannot be bombed,” he said in an interview.
On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlined the administration’s updated “maximum pressure” campaign, saying that the goal is to push Iran’s economy to the brink by tightening restrictions on its oil trade.
“Making Iran broke again will mark the beginning of our updated sanctions policy,” Bessent told the Economic Club of New York.
Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a multinational agreement to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons, in 2018, a year into his first White House term.
Tehran has consistently denied the claims and repeatedly expressed a willingness to revive the accord, but efforts to that end have faltered.
ALSO READ: Trump Calls for Global Nuclear Disarmament
Last month Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for the country to further develop its military capabilities after United States President Donald Trump threatened to use force if Tehran does not negotiate on its nuclear programme.
“We cannot be satisfied,” Khamenei said. “Say that we previously set a limit for the accuracy of our missiles, but we now feel this limit is no longer enough. We have to go forward.”
“Today, our defensive power is well known, our enemies are afraid of this. This is very important for our country,” he said.
Iran’s representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, had warned that “any act of aggression will have severe consequences”.
In a letter to the UN Security Council, Iravani referred to Trump’s media interviews, in which the US leader suggested stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons could be achieved either “with bombs or with a written piece of paper”.
