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Trump Says He Sent Letter to Iran Leader to Negotiate Nuclear Deal
US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office, on the day he signs executive orders, at the White House in Washington, DC, March 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
US President Donald Trump said he wants to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran and sent a letter to its leadership this week suggesting talks with the Islamic Republic, which the West fears is rapidly nearing the capability to make atomic weapons.
“I said I hope you’re going to negotiate, because it’s going to be a lot better for Iran,” Trump said in an interview with Fox Business Network broadcast on Friday.
“I think they want to get that letter. The other alternative is we have to do something, because you can’t let another nuclear weapon.”
Iran has not yet received the letter, Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York said on Friday. There was no immediate response from the foreign ministry in Iran, where it is the weekend, to a request for comment on Trump’s remarks.
Iran’s Nour News, affiliated with the country’s top security body, dismissed Trump’s letter as a “repetitive show” by Washington.
Asked whether he had sent the letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s fiercely anti-Western Supreme Leader, Trump said, “Yes.”
“There are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal,” Trump said. “I would prefer to make a deal, because I’m not looking to hurt Iran. They’re great people.”
In the interview, conducted on Thursday, Trump said he sent the letter “yesterday,” indicating Wednesday.
Western officials fear a nuclear-armed Iran could threaten Israel, Gulf Arab oil producers, and spark a regional arms race.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.
RUSSIAN OFFER TO MEDIATE
Trump has upended US foreign policy after taking office in January, adopting a more conciliatory stance towards Russia that has left Western allies wary as he tries to broker an end to Moscow’s three-year-old war in Ukraine.
Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, a multinational agreement that placed temporary restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, in 2018, a year into his first White House term.
Last month, Trump restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero. However, he also said he would like to make a deal with Tehran.
It is unclear how Trump’s overture to Iran would be received by US ally Israel, an arch foe of Tehran. Iran and Israel mounted military strikes on each other last April and October.
The Israeli prime minister’s office did not immediately return a request for comment on Trump’s letter to Iran.
Russia has offered to mediate between the United States and Iran, a source briefed on discussions told Reuters on Tuesday, as the Kremlin vowed to do everything possible to facilitate a peaceful solution to tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov discussed international efforts to resolve the situation around Iran’s nuclear program with Iranian ambassador Kazem Jalali, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
Meanwhile, senior Russian missile specialists have visited Iran over the past year as the Islamic Republic has deepened its defense cooperation with Moscow, a Reuters review of travel records and employment data indicates.
SANCTIONS AND DIPLOMACY
After Trump quit the nuclear agreement in 2018, Iran began moving away from its nuclear-related commitments under the 2015 deal between Iran and key world powers, which lifted sanctions on Iran in return for restrictions on its nuclear program.
After taking office in January, Trump also directed his UN ambassador to work with allies to “complete the snapback of international sanctions and restrictions on Iran.”
Britain, France, and Germany told the United Nations Security Council in December that they are ready – if necessary – to trigger the restoration of all the international sanctions to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
It was not the first time a US president has communicated with Iranian leaders. Under Iranian law, the supreme leader, not the president, has the last say on key state matters like Iran’s foreign policy and the nuclear program.
When US President Barack Obama took office in 2009, he offered Khamenei direct engagement – provided Iran was serious about ending concerns over its nuclear program. Obama twice wrote directly to Khamenei, in 2009 and again in 2012.
Iranian officials in 2014 acknowledged that Tehran had replied to previous letters from Obama, though it was not clear who specifically had responded.
Iran confirmed in 2013 that President Hassan Rouhani had exchanged letters with Obama, confirming a rare contact between leaders of the two nations.
The United States and Iran cut diplomatic relations in 1980, after students and Islamic militants stormed the US Embassy in Tehran and took American diplomats hostage.
The full Trump interview will air over the weekend on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
The post Trump Says He Sent Letter to Iran Leader to Negotiate Nuclear Deal first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.