U.S. President Donald Trump's letter to Iran's clerical establishment will be delivered by Anwar Gargash, diplomatic advisor to the president of the United Arab Emirates, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. Reuters/Dilara Senkaya
U.S. President Donald Trump's letter to Iran's clerical establishment will be delivered by Anwar Gargash, diplomatic advisor to the president of the United Arab Emirates, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Trump said last week that he had sent a letter urging Iran to engage in talks on a new nuclear deal, prompting Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to respond that Tehran would not be bullied into negotiations.
On Tuesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would not negotiate when threatened, telling Trump he could "do whatever the hell you want", Iranian state media reported.
Gargash was due to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on Wednesday, Iranian state media said. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei did not give details about the meeting.
While expressing openness to a deal with Tehran, Trump has reinstated the "maximum pressure" campaign he applied in his first term as president to isolate Iran from the global economy and drive its oil exports towards zero.
In 2018, Trump exited Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled its economy. Tehran reacted a year later by violating the deal's nuclear curbs.
'NEW AND BIZARRE'
Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, its stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, has jumped, the International Atomic Energy Agency said late last month.
Separately, Araqchi questioned a closed-door U.N. Security Council meeting on Wednesday about Iran's nuclear programme, state media reported.
The gathering marked a "new and bizarre process that puts into question the goodwill of states requesting it", he said.
Six of the council's 15 members - France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, Britain and the U.S. - requested the meeting over Iran's expansion of its stock of close to weapons-grade uranium.
Araqchi said that Iran would soon have a fifth round of talks with the European powers forming part of the nuclear deal - France, Britain and Germany - and confirmed a meeting in Beijing on Friday with the other members, Russia and China.
"Our talks with Europeans have been ongoing and will continue ... however, any decision by the U.N. Security Council or board of governors of the U.N. nuclear watchdog to pressure us will put under question the legitimacy of these talks," Araqchi said according to state media.
Reuters
President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would not negotiate with the U.S. while being threatened, telling President Donald Trump to "do whatever the hell you want", Iranian state media reported on Tuesday.
Iran would consider negotiations with the U.S. if the aim of the talks was to address concerns regarding any potential militarization of its nuclear program, Iran's U.N. mission said on Sunday in a post on X.
Qatar's prime minister has warned that an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would "entirely contaminate" the waters of the Gulf and threaten life in Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait.
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