Trump Says He Sent a Letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Over Country’s Advancing Nuclear Program

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — U.S. President Donald Trump said he sent a letter to Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a development that was not immediately confirmed by the supreme leader but that focused the spotlight on Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.

Trump made the comments in an interview aired on Friday by Fox Business News, saying he wrote to Iranian leaders. The interview will air in full on Sunday.

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The acknowledgment comes as both Israel and the United States have warned they’ll never let Iran acquire a nuclear weapon, leading to fears of a military confrontation as Tehran enriches uranium at near weapons-grade levels — a purity done only by atomic-armed nations.

“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,’” Trump said. He later added that he had sent the letter “yesterday” in the interview, which was filmed on Thursday.

The White House confirmed Trump’s comments, saying that he sent a letter to Iran’s leaders seeking to negotiate a nuclear deal.

“I would rather negotiate a deal. I’m not sure that everybody agrees with me, but we can make a deal that would be just as good as if you won militarily,” Trump added. “But the time is happening now. The time is coming up. Something’s going to happen one way or the other.”

“I hope you’re going to negotiate because it’s going to be a lot better for Iran and I think they want to get that letter,” Trump said. “The other alternative is we have to do something because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”

Iran long has maintained its program is for peaceful purposes, even as its officials increasingly threaten to pursue the bomb as tensions are high with the U.S. over its sanctions and with Israel as a shaky ceasefire holds in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported on Trump’s comments, citing the broadcast. However, there was no immediate word from the office of the 85-year-old Khamenei, who has final say over all matters of state.

Since Trump returned to the White House, his administration has consistently said that Iran must be prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons. A report last month, however, by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Iran has accelerated its production of near weapons-grade uranium.

Trump’s first term in office was marked by a particularly troubled period in relations with Tehran. In 2018, he unilaterally withdrew the United States from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, leading to sanctions hobbling the economy, and ordered the killing of the country’s top general.

Under the original 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium only up to 3.67% purity and maintain a stockpile of uranium of 300 kilograms.

Iran’s accelerated production of near weapons-grade uranium puts more pressure on Trump as he’s repeatedly said he’s open to negotiations with the Islamic Republic while also increasingly targeting Iran’s oil sales with sanctions as part of his reimposed “maximum pressure” policy.

Khamenei in a speech last August opened the door to talks with the U.S., saying there is “no harm” in engaging with the “enemy.”

However, more recently he tempered that, saying that negotiations with America “are not intelligent, wise or honorable” after Trump floated nuclear talks with Tehran.

—Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

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