Trump letter to Iran rebuffed amid US carrot-and-stick outreach
Iran said on Friday that it is not prepared to negotiate a new nuclear deal with the US, after President Donald Trump revealed he had sent a letter to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, asking for talks.
In an interview with Fox News on Friday, Trump said the letter was sent on Wednesday.
“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.”
Trump said he hoped to negotiate a deal, reiterating what has become a classic carrot-and-stick approach to his diplomacy.
“If we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing for them,” he said.
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“The other alternative is we have to do something because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon," he added.
Iran's mission to the United Nations said on Friday that no letter had been received from the US.
Iran leans on Russia
Iran’s foreign minister told the AFP on Friday that the country would not negotiate so long as the United States applies a "maximum pressure policy", but did not rule out talking with others about its nuclear programme.
This is notable because Russia has offered to mediate talks between the US and Iran.
'We will not enter any direct negotiations with the US so long as they continue their maximum pressure policy and their threats'
- Abbas Araghchi, Iranian foreign minister
"We will not enter any direct negotiations with the US so long as they continue their maximum pressure policy and their threats, but it doesn't mean that regarding our nuclear programme, we will not negotiate with other parties," Abbas Araghchi said.
"We are talking with the three European countries, we are negotiating with Russia and China," he said, adding: "these talks can continue and I think we can reach a result from this path, too."
Nour News, an agency linked to Iran’s top security body, was more dismissive of Trump’s offer.
“Trump’s pattern in foreign policy: slogans, threats, temporary action, and retreat!” Nour News said on X.
“On Iran: first he said he didn’t want confrontation, then he signed a maximum pressure (policy), then he imposed new sanctions, and now he talks about sending a letter to the leadership with an invitation to #negotiations! (This is a) repetitive show by #America,” it added.
Make Iran broke again
Trump relishes leveraging the United States’ military and economic strength against foes and allies alike, as he laid out publicly in a takedown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House recently.
With Iran, he seems to be betting the threat of sanctions will force Tehran to the table.
The US has singled out Iran’s oil industry, which has hit record export levels.
'Making Iran broke again will mark the beginning of our updated sanctions policy'
- US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
“We are going to shut down Iran’s oil sector and drone manufacturing capabilities,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday.
“Making Iran broke again will mark the beginning of our updated sanctions policy,” Bessent said. “If I were an Iranian, I would get all my money out of the rial now,” he said.
Trump’s letter to Khamenei recalls his correspondence with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un during the US leader’s first time in office. That outreach led to a historic meeting between Kim and Trump. While Trump said it led to North Korea stopping missile launches, no agreement was reached on North Korea reducing its nuclear arsenal.
Trump is under mixed pressure from Iran hawks and America First isolationists on whether to engage with Iran on a nuclear deal or ramp up tensions and potentially attack.
Trita Parsi, the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, wrote recently that a “unique window of opportunity” for Trump to strike a nuclear deal with Iran “is closing fast”.
On the surface, the Trump administration is ultra-hardline on Iran.
Trump unilaterally withdrew from the Obama administration’s 2015 nuclear accord with Iran during his first term.
Hawks versus deal makers
Trump’s secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and his appointees, like Joel Rayburn, tapped to run the State Department’s Near East Bureau, are all Iran hawks.
However, Trump’s inner circle is more open to dealing with the Islamic Republic.
Trump's Middle East envoy, and increasingly global troubleshooter, Steve Witkoff, told Fox News the administration wanted a diplomatic deal with Iran.
Elon Musk, the world's richest man and one of Trump’s closest allies, reportedly met Iran’s ambassador to the UN in New York in November. Musk has also shared social media posts revealing he is reading about Iranian history.
Tucker Carlson, the media personality close to Trump, has railed against the US entering a war with Iran.
Trump himself has said he wants a “verified nuclear peace agreement”. He has also shared social media posts deriding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a warmonger.
Trump pursued a maximum pressure campaign against Iran during his first term after unilaterally withdrawing from a 2015 nuclear deal that the Obama administration agreed to with Iran and European powers, including Russia and China.
Ironically for Trump, the Islamic Republic was weakened more by the regional Middle East war unleashed after Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel.
With the former Biden administration’s backing, Israel launched unprecedented direct strikes on Iran and severely degraded Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Although militarily weakened, Iran is substantially less isolated now than in Trump’s first term, having mended fences with Arab Gulf States and supplied Russia with arms for its war in Ukraine.
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