Iran Rejects Direct Talks Amid U.S. Tensions: Key Points to Understand
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran has responded to a letter from , addressed to its supreme leader, aiming to initiate discussions about Tehran’s rapidly developing nuclear program, declining the option of direct negotiations.
Tehran’s decision leaves open the chance for indirect discussions with Washington. However, these discussions have been stalled since Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers in 2018 during his initial term.
Trump has threatened to impose new sanctions on Iran as part of his “maximum pressure” strategy targeting the nation. He also reiterated that military intervention against Iran was still a possibility, while stressing his belief that a new agreement could still be reached.
Iran’s 85-year-old on Monday cautioned that Iran would respond to any attack with a counterattack.
Here’s a breakdown of the letter, Iran’s nuclear program, and the overarching tensions that have marked relations between Tehran and Washington since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Why did Trump write the letter?
Trump sent the letter to Khamenei on March 5, and then acknowledged sending it in . He stated: “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.'” Since returning to the White House, the president has been advocating for negotiations while simultaneously increasing sanctions and suggesting a military strike by Israel or the U.S. could target Iranian nuclear facilities.
A prior letter from Trump during his first term elicited an angry response from the supreme leader.
However, Trump’s letters to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his first term resulted in face-to-face meetings, although and a missile program with the capability to reach the continental U.S. persisted.
How has Iran reacted?
On Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian dismissed direct negotiations with the United States regarding Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.
“We don’t avoid talks; it’s the breach of promises that has caused issues for us so far,” Pezeshkian stated in televised remarks during a Cabinet meeting. “They must prove that they can build trust.”
On Monday, Khamenei appeared to respond to comments made by Trump, who was renewing his threat of military action.
“They threaten to commit acts of mischief, but we are not entirely certain that such actions will take place,” the supreme leader stated. “We do not consider it highly likely that trouble will come from the outside. However, if it does, they will undoubtedly face a strong retaliatory strike.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei went even further.
“An open threat of ‘bombing’ by a Head of State against Iran is a shocking affront to the very essence of International Peace and Security,” he wrote on the social platform X. “Violence breeds violence, peace begets peace. The US can choose the course…; and concede to CONSEQUENCES.”
Why does Iran’s nuclear program worry the West?
Iran has maintained for decades that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. However, its officials . Iran now enriches uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels of 60%, making it the only country in the world without a nuclear weapons program to do so.
Under the original 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran was permitted to enrich uranium only up to 3.67% purity and maintain a uranium stockpile of 300 kilograms (661 pounds). The most recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran’s program indicated its stockpile at 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds), with a fraction of it enriched to 60% purity.
U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has not yet initiated a weapons program but has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device if it chooses to do so.”
Why are relations so bad between Iran and the U.S.?
Iran was once one of the U.S.’s closest allies in the Mideast under , who purchased American military equipment and allowed CIA technicians to operate secret listening posts monitoring the neighboring Soviet Union. The .
However, in January 1979, the shah, terminally ill with cancer, fled Iran as mass demonstrations against his rule grew. , led by Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and established Iran’s theocratic government.
Later that year, , seeking the shah’s extradition, triggered the 444-day hostage crisis, which led to the severing of diplomatic relations between Iran and the U.S. saw the U.S. support Saddam Hussein. during that conflict resulted in the U.S. launching a one-day assault that crippled Iran at sea, while .
Iran and the U.S. have fluctuated between hostility and reluctant diplomacy in the years since, with relations reaching a high point when Tehran made a 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers. But , sparking years of tensions in the Mideast that continue to this day.
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Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed.
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