Iran responds to Trump's nuclear talks proposal as U.S. sends bombers to region
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Photo: Iranian Leader Press Office via Getty
Iran delivered a formal written response to President Trump's letter proposing new nuclear talks and threatening consequences if a deal is not reached swiftly, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday.
Why it matters: Trump gave Iran a two-month deadline to sign a new nuclear deal or face potential military action in his letter, sent three weeks ago.
Driving the news: Iran delivered its response via the Gulf Sultanate of Oman, which duly notified the U.S., a source with knowledge of the issue confirmed to Axios.
- The Omanis briefed the U.S. on the messages they received from the Iranians and will deliver the Iranian letter to the White House in the coming days, the source said.
- The source did not offer details on the nature of the Iranian response. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
- Araghchi said in a news conference that Iran maintains its position that it won't negotiate directly with the Trump administration so long as Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign is in place, but is willing to hold indirect talks.
State of play: Trump and his top advisers have left the door open for talks while also using the threat of military force.
- In recent days, the U.S. military sent several B-2 stealth bombers to the Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean in a deployment a U.S. official said was "not disconnected" from Trump's two-month deadline.
- The B-2 bombers can carry huge bunker buster bombs that would be a key element in any possible military action against Iran's underground nuclear facilities.
- A spokesperson for U.S. Strategic Command confirmed the deployment to Axios and said Stratcom "routinely conducts global operations in coordination with other combatant commands, services, and participating U.S. government agencies to deter, detect and, if necessary, defeat strategic attacks against the United States and its allies."
Catch up quick: Three weeks ago in an interview with Fox News' Maria Bartiromo, Trump revealed that he'd sent a letter to the Iranian leader proposing direct negotiations.
- That letter was delivered by his envoy Steve Witkoff to United Arab Emirates Mohammed Bin Zayed (MBZ), with MBZ's envoy Anwar Gargash traveling to Tehran to deliver it to Araghchi.
- That same week, Trump said the U.S. is "down to the final moments" with Iran. "We can't let them have a nuclear weapon. Something is going to happen very soon. I would rather have a peace deal than the other option, but the other option will solve the problem," he said.
Flashback: Oman played a key role mediating between the U.S. and Iran during the Obama and Biden administrations.
- Several rounds of indirect talks have been held in Oman between Biden's advisers and Iranian officials. These talks mostly focused on regional issues and hostages, but didn't lead to serious negotiations over the nuclear program.
