Iran: Negotiation with the U.S. Regarding Military Aspects of Nuclear Program Can Be Considered

The Iranian mission to the United Nations stated two days after the announcement of Donald Trump's letter to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic that if the goal of negotiations is to alleviate concerns about the potential militarization of Iran's nuclear program, this proposal 'can be considered.' The Iranian mission to the UN on Sunday, March 10, published a message on X network, without confirming or denying the receipt of the letter from the U.S. President, stating that if the goal of negotiations is to dismantle Iran's 'peaceful' nuclear program to claim something that Obama failed to achieve, such negotiations will never take place. This message refers to the negotiations between Iran and the six global powers during Barack Obama's presidency, which led to the JCPOA agreement; an agreement that Mr. Trump labeled as 'the worst deal in U.S. history' during his first term and withdrew from in May 2018. Mr. Trump stated on Friday to Fox News that he is seeking negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear program and has sent a letter to Ali Khamenei. Hours later, he told reporters at the White House that 'very, very soon things will happen' regarding Iran, 'interesting days are ahead,' and 'we have reached the final movements regarding Iran.' Khamenei's repeated rejection of negotiations; Zarif: Trump's letter has not yet reached us. In his interview, he stated that he sent this letter on Wednesday, but Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, again rejected negotiations with the U.S. on Saturday. The Supreme Leader, without directly referring to the U.S. President's proposal and letter, claimed that the insistence of this country on negotiations 'is not to solve issues' and Washington wants to raise 'new expectations such as defense programs, missile capabilities, and Iran's international abilities.' The White House, hours after the Supreme Leader's rejection of the U.S. President's proposal for negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear program, reiterated that Tehran is faced with one of two options: military action or agreement. The White House reiterated Trump's warning about the agreement or military action in response to Khamenei. Khamenei's opposition to nuclear negotiations again increased the exchange rate in domestic markets, and at the time of preparing this report on Sunday evening, each U.S. dollar was trading close to 93,000 tomans. Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that he will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons under any circumstances but prefers negotiations to achieve a valid and verifiable nuclear agreement over military action. Mr. Trump signed a presidential memo in mid-February to resume maximum pressure on Iran but expressed hope that there would be no need to implement this memo and that an agreement would be reached with Tehran. Before Khamenei's speech, Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, said in his presence: 'We should not back down from any threats made by enemies; we are capable of overcoming all problems.' He had stated last week that he personally supported negotiations with the U.S. and believed that dialogue with the United States would solve problems, but after Khamenei's prohibition, he set aside this view.