UAE delivers Trump message to Iran

Iran’s Fars news agency reported on Wednesday that Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic advisor to the President of the UAE, had delivered a message from US President Donald Trump to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Iran’s ISNA reported earlier today that Gargash would hold talks and consultations with Iranian officials and the Iranian Foreign Minister on bilateral and regional issues.

This came hours after Araghchi announced that, “Trump’s letter has been written and has not yet reached us; an envoy from one of the Arab countries is supposed to deliver it in Tehran.” The minister noted that “Iran is a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)” and that its nuclear programme operates within the same framework.

“We have always been prepared to negotiate from an equal position on the nuclear issue,” explained Araghchi. “A trilateral meeting with China and Russia will be held in the coming days on this matter.”

Trump announced last Saturday that he had sent a letter to the Iranian leadership to negotiate a nuclear agreement, a claim that Iran denied at the time.

In an interview with Fox Business, Trump confirmed that he wants to negotiate a nuclear agreement with Iran, adding, “I hope you’re going to negotiate, because it’s going to be a lot better for Iran.” He added, “We have to do something, because you can’t let them [Iran] have a nuclear weapon.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian responded to Trump’s calls for negotiations on Tuesday evening, saying that Iran would not negotiate when threatened. “Do whatever the hell you want,” he told Trump.

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