Iran Scrutinizes Trump’s Letter on Nuclear Program

Iran is scrutinizing US President Donald Trump’s letter on Tehran’s nuclear program. Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Ministry, said “the issue of possible retaliatory measures will be decided after a thorough analysis of the document at the highest level of Iran’s leadership.”

The US letter, which, among other things, calls for the resumption of direct talks on Iran’s nuclear program, was handed to Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, by Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to UAE President Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Tehran’s statement came on the same day that the deputy foreign ministers of China, Russia, and Iran met in Beijing to discuss Iran’s nuclear program. The talks opened with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (pictured) calling on the USA to “show political sincerity and return to negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program as soon as possible.” During the meeting between Deputy Foreign Ministers Ma Zhaoxu (China), Sergei Ryabkov (Russia), and Kazem Gharibabadi (Iran), Wang Yi reiterated the need to “actively work to create conditions for the resumption of dialogue and negotiations, avoiding actions that could aggravate the situation.” The minister also urged “cautious use of snapback,” a mechanism under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that “automatically results in the reinstatement of all UN sanctions in place against Iran prior to the 2015 agreement.”

Recall that a decade ago, Iran reached an agreement with the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany, accepting terms to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the easing of international sanctions. However, three years later, at Israel’s request, Trump unilaterally announced the US withdrawal from the agreement and reimposed sanctions on Iran in an effort to “force the Iranian regime to abandon its nuclear program.”