Trump gives Iran deadline to reach new nuclear deal

US President Donald Trump, in a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei proposing negotiations on a new nuclear deal, made clear that Iran has a two-month deadline to reach an agreement, a source familiar with the letter’s contents told CNN.

The directive comes as Trump has said he would like to reach a deal with Iran to gain more control over their nuclear capabilities.

Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff delivered the letter to the president of the United Arab Emirates Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan while he was in Abu Dhabi last week, the source said. The UAE later gave the letter to the Iranians.

“President Trump made it clear to Ayatollah Khamenei that he wanted to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program diplomatically – and very soon – and if this was not possible, there would be other ways to resolve the dispute,” a spokesman for the National Security Council Brian Hughes said in a statement to CNN.

Axios was the first to report on the contents of the letter.

Trump also discussed a potential nuclear deal with Iran during his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, according to a White House readout of the call.

The readout stated that Trump and Putin “spoke broadly about the Middle East as a region of potential cooperation to prevent future conflicts. They further discussed the need to stop proliferation of strategic weapons and will engage with others to ensure the broadest possible application.”

“The two leaders shared the view that Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel,” the readout continued.

Earlier this month, Trump told Fox News that there “are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal. I would prefer to make a deal, because I’m not looking to hurt Iran.”

“I said, ‘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 – the alternative is we have to do something, because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon,” Trump added.

It is unclear how the US would respond if Iran fails to enter direct talks regarding its nuclear program. However, senior US officials have not ruled out potential military action, whether through the US or Israel, on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the future.

During his first term in office, Trump withdrew from the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran and ordered a US-led strike on Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, leading to further backlash from Tehran.

Trump, in his second term, has returned to his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran, in an effort to isolate the country economically and diplomatically.

Khamenei recently said calls for negotiations by “bully states” are aimed at dominating others, not resolving issues.

“The insistence on the part of some bully states on negotiations is not to resolve issues, but to dominate and impose their own expectations,” Khamenei said this month, as cited by Iranian state media outlets.

Why is Iran being pressured not to attack Israel?

There can’t be any denial to the fact that the support of United States and its allies encourages Israel to continue atrocities and threaten peace and security. The war in any part of the world is not in the interest of any country, but a punitive response to an aggressor is a legal right of states and a way to stop crime and aggression. The pressure on Iran not to retaliate is void of political logic, in complete contradiction to the principles and rules of international law and excessive.

According to media reports, Iran has dismissed calls from Britain and other Western countries to refrain from retaliation against Israel for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month.

Amid a flurry of international diplomacy to de-escalate tensions, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to "stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack” in a rare telephone conversation on Monday. But Pezeshkian said retaliation was a “way to stop crime” and Iran’s “legal right”, according to Iranian state media.

Israel, which did not say it was involved in Haniyeh’s assassination, has meanwhile put its military on its highest alert level.

The United States has warned that it is preparing for “a significant set of attacks” by Iran or its proxies as soon as this week, and has built up its military presence in the Middle East to help defend Israel.

Hezbollah movement in Lebanon is also threatening to retaliate over Israel’s killing of one of its top commanders in an air strike in Beirut.

On Monday evening, the leaders of the Britain, France and Germany issued a joint statement urging Iran and its allies to “refrain from attacks that would further escalate regional tensions”.

"They will bear responsibility for actions that jeopardize this opportunity for peace and stability,” Keir, President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

Later, the British prime minister also expressed his deep concerns directly to Iran’s president by telephone - the first such call since March 2021.

Kier told Pezeshkian that “there was a serious risk of miscalculation and now was the time for calm and careful consideration”, Downing Street said.

“He called on Iran to refrain from attacking Israel, adding that war was not in anyone’s interests,” it added.

The Israeli military said on Monday that it was taking Iran’s statements seriously.

“We are prepared at peak readiness in offense and defense, and we will act according to the directives of the government,” spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a briefing.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has dispatched a second aircraft carrier strike group as well as a ballistic missile submarine to the Middle East to reinforce what the Pentagon said was the “United States’ commitment to taking every possible step to defend Israel”.