Tehran
\nIran said on Monday it was open to indirect talks with the United States, after President Donald Trump had demanded negotiations for a new nuclear deal.
\n\u201cThe way is open for indirect negotiations,\u201d Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, dismissing the prospect of direct talks \u201cuntil there is a change in the other side\u2019s approach towards the Islamic republic\u201d.
\nThe top Iranian diplomat said Tehran would not engage in direct talks with Washington under threats and so long as Trump maintain his \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d policy.
\nUnder that policy in his first term as president, Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark agreement on Iran\u2019s nuclear programme in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Tehran.
\nThe deal, sealed in 2015 between Tehran and Western powers, required Iran to limit its nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief.
\nWestern countries including the United States have long accused Iran of pursing a nuclear weapon, which Tehran has denied, insisting its enrichment activities were solely for peaceful purposes.
\nOn March 7, Trump said he had written to Iran\u2019s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to call for nuclear negotiations and warn of possible military action if Tehran refused.
\nThe letter was delivered to Tehran on March 12 by UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash, Iranian news agency Fars reported at the time.
\nOn Friday Khamenei said US threats \u201cwill get them nowhere\u201d, warning of reciprocal measures \u201cif they do anything malign\u201d against Iran.
\nAraghchi on Thursday said Trump\u2019s letter was \u201cmore of a threat\u201d, but added that it could also open up some opportunities and that Tehran would respond soon.
\nUS Middle East envoy Steven Witkoff, in an interview published Friday, said Trump\u2019s goal was to avoid military conflict by building trust with Iran.
\nHe insisted the letter was not meant as a threat.
\nTehran and Washington cut diplomatic ties after Iran\u2019s 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Western-backed shah.
\nSince then, the Swiss embassy in Tehran has facilitated communications between the two nations.
\nGulf state Oman has also mediated indirect talks on Iran\u2019s nuclear issue via the so-called \u201cMuscat process\u201d, which Araghchi had said in October was \u201chalted for the time being.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tehran Iran said on Monday it was open to indirect talks with the United States, after President Donald Trump had demanded negotiations for a new nuclear deal. \u201cThe way is open for indirect negotiations,\u201d Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, dismissing the prospect of direct talks \u201cuntil there is a change in the other side\u2019s approach […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469048,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-469017","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n