Axios reported on Wednesday that President Trump gave Iran a two-month deadline to reach a deal on its civilian nuclear program in a letter he recently sent to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The report, which cited two sources briefed on the letter, said it was unclear if the countdown to the deadline began when the letter was delivered or if it would start at the beginning of negotiations. But US-Iran talks are unlikely as Iranian leaders have rejected negotiating in response to President Trump’s so-called “maximum pressure campaign.”
Axios reporter Barak Ravid, a former IDF intelligence officer, wrote in his report that if Iran doesn’t negotiate, “the chances of US or Israeli military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities would dramatically increase.”
The news of Trump’s deadline for Iran comes as the president is warning that he will blame Iran for attacks launched by the Houthis even though it is widely believed the Yemeni group acts independently and wouldn’t take orders from Tehran, a fact that’s been acknowledged by US officials.
Khamenei rejected Trump’s letter when Iran received it last week, calling it a “deception” meant to make it seem like the US was the reasonable party and that Iran was rejecting negotiations for no reason.
Last year, Khamenei appeared to give Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to pursue direct talks with the US. But in the face of increasing US sanctions and threats from Trump, both leaders are now ruling out negotiations.
Despite all the hype around Iran’s nuclear program, there’s no evidence that Tehran has decided to build nuclear weapons. Even President Trump has acknowledged that Iranian leadership does not want a nuclear bomb.
“There are many people at the top ranks of Iran that do not want to have a nuclear weapon,” President Trump said when signing an executive order to reimpose “maximum pressure” on Iran.
In response to Israeli aggression, there have been growing calls inside Iran for Khamenei to reconsider his fatwa that prohibits the development of nuclear weapons, but there’s no sign he’s considering reversing it.
