Iran has rejected direct negotiations with US in response to Trump’s letter

Dubai: Iran’s president said on Sunday that the Islamic Republic rejected direct negotiations with the United States over its rapidly advancing nuclear programme, offering Tehran’s first response to a letter President Donald Trump sent to the country’s supreme leader.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran’s response, delivered via the sultanate of Oman, left open the possibility of indirect negotiations with Washington.

However, such talks have made no progress since Trump in his first term unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018.

In the years since, regional tensions have boiled over into attacks at sea and on land. Then came the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, which saw Israel target militant group leaders across Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance”.

Now, as the US conducts intense airstrikes targeting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen, the risk of military action targeting Iran’s nuclear program remains on the table.

“We don’t avoid talks; it’s the breach of promises that has caused issues for us so far,” Pezeshkian said in televised remarks during a Cabinet meeting.

“They must prove that they can build trust.”

The White House, the State Department and other officials offered no immediate reaction to the announcement.

Iran’s position hardens after Trump’s letter

Having Pezeshkian announced the decision shows just how much has changed in Iran since his election half a year ago after he campaigned on a promise to re-engage with the West.

Since Trump’s election and the resumption of his “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran, Iran’s rial currency has gone into a freefall. Pezeshkian had left open talks up until Iran’s 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei came down hard on Trump in February and warned talks “are not intelligent, wise or honourable” with his administration.

The Iranian president then immediately toughened his own remarks on the US.

Iran has sent mixed signals in recent weeks, with anti-Israel rhetoric intensifying but little mention of the US in state propaganda. Meanwhile, Trump’s letter urging Tehran to negotiate was dismissed.

Amid nuclear tensions, Iran enriches uranium near weapons-grade levels as fears of military conflict grow, with Israel and the US vowing to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapon.