Iran-U.S. Tensions Under Trump: Key Points to Understand
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A letter from U.S. President Donald Trump to Iran’s supreme leader, intended to initiate discussions regarding Tehran’s rapidly developing nuclear program, has been delivered to the Iranian capital.
While the letter’s specific contents remain undisclosed, its arrival coincides with Trump’s imposition of new sanctions on Iran as part of his “maximum pressure” strategy. He also indicated that military action against Iran remained a possibility, while simultaneously expressing his belief that a new agreement was still achievable.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s 85-year-old Supreme Leader, has publicly dismissed Trump’s overtures. However, Iranian officials have also conveyed mixed messages regarding the potential for negotiations.
Here’s a breakdown of what you need to know about the letter, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and the broader tensions that have characterized relations between Tehran and Washington since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Why did Trump write the letter?
Trump sent the letter to Khamenei on March 5 and then confirmed its dispatch in a television interview the following day. 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 advocated for discussions while simultaneously increasing sanctions and alluding to a potential military strike by Israel or the U.S. targeting Iranian nuclear facilities.
A previous letter that Trump had the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe deliver during his first term received an angry response from the supreme leader.
However, Trump’s letters to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his initial term led to direct meetings, although no agreements were reached to limit Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and a missile program capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
How has Iran reacted?
Iran’s response has been seemingly contradictory. Khamenei himself stated that he was not interested in negotiating with a “bullying government.”
However, Iranian diplomats, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, previously suggested that discussions regarding guarantees that Tehran would not pursue nuclear weapons might be possible. Araghchi, who participated in negotiations for Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, later adopted a firmer stance, stating that talks could not occur under U.S. pressure, following Khamenei’s lead.
Nevertheless, Araghchi still met with the Emirati diplomat who delivered Trump’s letter.
Why does Iran’s nuclear program worry the West?
Iran has consistently maintained that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. However, Iranian officials have increasingly made statements suggesting they may pursue nuclear weapons. Iran is currently enriching uranium to levels nearing weapons-grade (60%), a status unique to countries without existing nuclear weapons programs.
Under the original 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran was restricted to enriching uranium up to 3.67% purity and maintaining a stockpile of 300 kilograms (661 pounds). The International Atomic Energy Agency’s most recent report on Iran’s program indicated a stockpile of 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds), with a portion being 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.?
Under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran was once a close U.S. ally in the Middle East, purchasing American military equipment and hosting CIA listening posts that monitored the Soviet Union. The CIA played a role in a 1953 coup that solidified the Shah’s power.
However, in January 1979, the Shah, suffering from terminal cancer, fled Iran amidst widespread protests against his rule. The Islamic Revolution, led by Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, followed, establishing Iran’s theocratic government.
Later that year, university students seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, demanding the Shah’s return and triggering a 444-day hostage crisis that led to the severing of diplomatic ties between Iran and the U.S. During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, the U.S. supported Saddam Hussein. The “Tanker War” during that conflict saw the U.S. launch a one-day assault that crippled Iran’s naval forces, and the U.S. also shot down an Iranian commercial airliner.
Since then, Iran and the U.S. have experienced alternating periods of hostility and cautious diplomacy, with relations reaching a high point when Tehran reached a nuclear agreement with world powers in 2015. However, Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the agreement has led to years of heightened tensions in the Middle East that continue today.