The administration of US President Donald Trump is laying out a new Iran doctrine. It blends some elements of his first administration’s maximum pressure, with more carrots for Iran in the form of hints at a possible new deal.
Iranian officials are saying they didn’t receive any correspondence from Trump, however, and this may be two sides talking at each other while bluffing.
Iran has not received any letter from the United States, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqhchi said over the weekend. This came after Iranian state media said Trump had “claimed to have sent a letter to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution on negotiations with the Islamic Republic.”
It wasn’t clear if there was a physical letter involved or merely messaging.
“There’ll be some interesting days ahead,” Trump said recently. “That’s all I can tell you. You know, we’re down to final strokes with Iran… [we] can’t let them have a nuclear weapon... They have a lot of nice oil wells, right? So anyway, it’s going to be a big thing. It’s an interesting time in the history of the world, but we have a situation with Iran, and something’s going to happen very soon.”
Araqhchi said he learned about the letter, which is “on its way.” This seems to imply it’s literally a physical letter.
“We have heard the same, [but] we haven’t got anything yet,” Araqhchi said in a television interview. “It hasn’t arrived yet.” He was attending a meeting in Tehran at the time, where Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei was receiving local officials.
Khamenei has slammed the US and encouraged Iran not to begin new talks with Washington.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf said: “We do not wait for any letter from the US, and we believe that by using internal capacities and opportunities for developing foreign relations, we can achieve a position that the enemy has no choice but to lift the sanctions within the framework of negotiations with the remaining parties to the JCPOA.”
Qalibaf made the remark at the start of an open session of parliament on Sunday, Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Iran’s official news agency, reported.
It is clear that Iranian officials have message discipline on this “letter” issue.
Condemning new sanctions
Meanwhile, Iran has condemned new sanctions from Canada, which followed sanctions from the US. The US wants to cut off Iran’s oil exports and also target its trade in components for drones and other products.
On Friday, Canada announced new sanctions on Iran, “targeting seven individuals and entities over their alleged links to networks involved in the production of weapons, which Ottawa claims have been sent to Russia for use in the Ukraine war,” IRNA reported.
The reports come as Iran is flexing its naval muscles this week. Iran, Russia, and China are beginning drills called “Security Belt,” IRNA reported.
“The drill will take place in the Indian Ocean. Iran, Russia, and China have increased cooperation in recent years,” the report said. “The navies of Iran, China, and Russia will kick off joint drills in the northern Indian Ocean with the aim of promoting security in the area and enhancing trilateral naval cooperation.”
Iran said observer countries would include Azerbaijan, South Africa, Oman, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Qatar, Iraq, the UAE, and Sri Lanka. Iraq is a friend of Iran, and Oman and Iran have drilled land forces together before. Qatar also backs Iran.