President Donald Trump said he sent a letter to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatolá Ali Khamenei, on the negotiation of a nuclear agreement, while threatens military action if an agreement is not reached.
Trump said he sent the letter on Wednesday during a Interview with Fox BusinessA clip of which it was released by the network on Friday.
“There are two ways in which Iran can be handled, militarily or you make an agreement. You would prefer to make an agreement,” Trump told Fox News, Maria Bartiromo.
“I prefer to negotiate an agreement. I am not sure that everyone agrees with me, but we can make an agreement that would be as good as if it won militarily,” Trump said. “But now the moment is happening, the moment is approaching. Something will happen in one way or another. I hope they will go, and I have written a letter, saying that I hope they will negotiate because if we have to enter militarily, it will be something terrible for them.”
However, the permanent mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran before the United Nations said they have not received a Trump letter.
“We have not received such a letter so far,” the mission said in a statement.
President Donald Trump in Washington, on March 3, 2025 and the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, on February 17, 2025.
Reuters/AFP through Getty Images
Fox Bartyrome asked the president if he was giving the Iranian leadership an ultimatum.
“No, I didn’t say, ‘Better’. I said:” I hope you are going to negotiate, “because it will be much better for Iran.
This is not the first time Trump sends a message to Khamenei. In 2019, with the help of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, he sent a similar message, but the Iranian leader publicly rejected that offer to speak.
According to the reports, Khamenei said at that time: “I do not consider Trump as a person with whom it is worth exchanging any message.”
Trump’s comments propose a nuclear agreement after withdrawing the United States from an agreement reached between Iran and the Obama administration during their first term in office. This nuclear agreement, established in 2015, allowed Iran to enrich uranium only to 3.67% purity and maintain a 300 -kilogram uranium reserve.
Last month, Trump signed a memorandum that seeks to exert “maximum pressure” on Iran, including the elevation of their oil exports to zero to prevent Tehran from possessing nuclear weapons capacity.
“I’m going to sign it, but I hope we will not have to use it a lot. We will see if we can organize or make an agreement with Iran,” he said.
When asked about what kind of treatment he would like to see, Trump replied: “We are going to see. They cannot have a nuclear weapon. With me, it is very simple: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
While talking about the issue in the Oval office, Trump also said he left instructions to “erase” Iran if they ever carried out a murder.
Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
