China and Russia will hold talks with Iranian officials in Beijing on Friday to discuss the \u201cIranian nuclear issue\u201d
\n DUBAI
\nA letter from US President Donald Trump to Iran\u2019s clerical establishment has been delivered by Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates, Iran\u2019s foreign ministry spokesperson and state media said on Wednesday.
\nTrump, who said last week he had sent a letter to Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei proposing talks on a nuclear deal, has warned that \u201cthere are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal\u201d that prevents Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
\nKhamenei, who has the final word in Iranian state matters, promptly responded that Tehran would not be bullied into talks with \u201cexcessive demands\u201d and threats.
\nOn Tuesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would not negotiate with threats hanging over its head, telling Trump in an outburst to \u201cdo whatever the hell you want\u201d, Iranian state media reported.
\nGargash met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on Wednesday, Iranian state media said. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei did not give details about the meeting.
\nThe UAE, one of Washington\u2019s key Middle East security partners and host to US troops, also maintains warm ties with Tehran. Despite past tensions, business and trade links between the two countries have remained strong, with Dubai serving as a key commercial hub for Iran for more than a century.
\nWhile leaving the door open for a nuclear pact with Tehran, Trump has reinstated the \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d campaign he applied in his first term as president to isolate Iran from the global economy and drive its oil exports towards zero.
\nIn 2018, Trump exited Tehran\u2019s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled its economy. Tehran reacted a year later by violating the deal\u2019s nuclear curbs.
\n\u2018New and Bizarre\u2019
\nIran has long denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, its stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, has jumped, the International Atomic Energy Agency said late last month.
\nSeparately, Araqchi denounced a closed-door UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday about Iran\u2019s nuclear work as a new process that puts into question the goodwill of states requesting it.
\nSix of the council\u2019s 15 members \u2014 France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, Britain and the US \u2014 requested the meeting over Iran\u2019s expansion of its stock of close to weapons-grade uranium.
\nAraqchi said that Iran would soon have a fifth round of talks with France, Britain and Germany \u2014 parties to Iran\u2019s 2015 nuclear pact.
\nThe Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday that China and Russia will hold talks with Iranian officials in Beijing on Friday to discuss the \u201cIranian nuclear issue\u201d.
\n\u201cOur talks with Europeans have been ongoing and will continue … however, any decision by the UN Security Council or board of governors of the UN nuclear watchdog to pressure us will put under question the legitimacy of these talks,\u201d Araqchi said according to state media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
China and Russia will hold talks with Iranian officials in Beijing on Friday to discuss the \u201cIranian nuclear issue\u201d DUBAI A letter from US President Donald Trump to Iran\u2019s clerical establishment has been delivered by Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates, Iran\u2019s foreign ministry spokesperson and state media said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465861,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-466802","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n