Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said Thursday that a recent letter from US President Donald Trump to demand a new nuclear dialogue “is actually a threat”, and that Tehran will respond soon.
Aragchi told Iranian state television that when the letter was planned to offer opportunities, it was “a danger,” he added, adding that Iran is now studying its contents and will respond “in the days to come”.
On March 7, Trump said he wrote to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that if Iran refused, he had called for talks and a warning of possible military action.
Khamenei said the US invitation for the dialogue was aimed at deceiving the world’s opinion by presenting the United States to negotiate and dislike Iran.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has said it will make a “complete diagnosis” before responding to the letter, which was provided by a senior UAE diplomat on March 12.
Aragchi said the answer would be “sent by appropriate channels”, without any explanation.
On Wednesday, the US News website AxiosReferring to an American official and other sources, the letter reported that “a two -month deadline to reach a new nuclear deal”.
Trump, who returned to the White House for the second term in January, has restored his “maximum pressure” policy of sanctions against Iran during his first term.
At that time, Trump unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers, and promoted economic sanctions. Tehran followed the 2015 agreement for one year after the withdrawal of Washington, but then began to return its promises.
Under the Biden administration, brief efforts were made to restore the deal, but they did not go anywhere.
Tehran has repeatedly rejected direct talks with Washington, while US sanctions are in place.
Today, Aragchi reiterated that Iran will not definitely talk directly “due to pressure, threats and sanctions.”
