A letter from U.S. President Donald Trump to Iran's supreme leader, aimed at reviving negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly progressing nuclear programme, has reached the Iranian capital.
Although the letter’s content has not been disclosed, its arrival coincides with Trump imposing fresh sanctions on Iran as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign. While he has hinted that military action against Iran remains an option, he has also expressed confidence that a new agreement could still be achieved.
Khamenei dismisses US offer for nuclear talks, calls it deceptive
Iran’s 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ridiculed Trump, yet Iranian officials have sent mixed messages about whether talks could take place.
Here’s what you need to know about the letter, Iran’s nuclear programme, and the ongoing tensions that have defined US-Iran relations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Why Did Trump Send the Letter?
Trump sent the letter to Khamenei on March 5, later confirming it 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, Trump has been advocating for talks while simultaneously tightening sanctions and suggesting that Israel or the U.S. could launch military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
During his first term, a letter Trump sent via the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe provoked an angry response from Khamenei.
However, Trump's correspondence with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during the same period resulted in face-to-face meetings, although they failed to produce agreements limiting Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons or its missile programme, which can reach the continental U.S.
How Has Iran Responded?
Iran’s response has been somewhat contradictory. While Khamenei has dismissed the idea of negotiating with what he calls a “bullying government,” some Iranian diplomats, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, have indicated that discussions on assurances that Tehran would not pursue nuclear weapons might be possible.
Araghchi, who was involved in negotiating the 2015 nuclear deal, later hardened his stance, asserting that talks could not occur under U.S. pressure—aligning with Khamenei’s position.
Nevertheless, Araghchi still met with the Emirati envoy who delivered Trump’s letter.
Why Is Iran’s Nuclear Programme a Concern for the West?
For decades, Iran has maintained that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. However, its officials have increasingly hinted at the possibility of developing a nuclear weapon. Iran is currently enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels of 60%, making it the only country in the world without a nuclear weapons programme to do so.
Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was permitted to enrich uranium only up to 3.67% purity and to stockpile no more than 300 kilograms (661 pounds). The latest report from the International Atomic Energy Agency placed Iran’s stockpile at 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds), with a portion of it being enriched to 60% purity.
While U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Iran has not yet initiated a weapons programme, they have acknowledged that Tehran has engaged in activities that position it to produce a nuclear device should it decide to do so.
Why Are Relations Between Iran and the U.S. So Strained?
Once a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, Iran was ruled by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who purchased American military equipment and permitted CIA technicians to operate secret listening posts monitoring the Soviet Union. In 1953, the CIA orchestrated a coup that solidified the shah’s power.
However, in January 1979, the shah—suffering from terminal cancer—fled Iran as mass protests surged against his rule. The Islamic Revolution, led by Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, subsequently established Iran’s theocratic government.
Later that year, Iranian university students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, demanding the shah’s extradition and sparking a 444-day hostage crisis, which led to the severing of diplomatic ties between the two nations.
Iran open to talks on nuclear militarization concerns
During the 1980s, the U.S. backed Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq War. The conflict’s “Tanker War” phase saw the U.S. conduct a one-day military operation that severely weakened Iran’s naval capabilities, and the U.S. later downed an Iranian passenger airliner.
In the years since, relations between Iran and the U.S. have fluctuated between hostility and tentative diplomacy, reaching their peak with the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers. However, tensions escalated when Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the accord, leading to years of instability in the Middle East that continue to this day.