US President Donald Trump has sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei offering talks toward a deal on its nuclear program, he told Fox Business Network, but warned that the alternative was a military intervention.
Russia is an active geopolitical player with its own vested interests, Nematollah Izadi told ILNA News Agency on Friday.
"There is no doubt the Russians are interested in mediating between Iran and the US, but whether they can do so effectively remains in doubt," Izadi said. "They play a role in regional issues concerning Iran, the US, and Europe and have their own interests. Therefore, they cannot be impartial mediators."
He also urged Iran to adopt a balanced foreign policy, warning against over-reliance on a single ally.
"If Iran fails to do so, all of its foreign policy ‘eggs’ will end up in Russia’s basket—and most likely China’s as well," he said. "This will undoubtedly have negative consequences, as it will limit Iran’s options."
His remarks come following an alarming report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) earlier this week.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi revealed that Iran had significantly increased its stockpile of 60% enriched uranium, raising further concerns over its nuclear intentions.
Grossi also acknowledged that Western sanctions have failed to curb Tehran’s nuclear expansion, with its program growing significantly in recent years.
“Sanctions aren’t working,” Grossi told Bloomberg. “Quite obviously, the country has learned to circumvent them. The program has grown enormously, especially since 2018.”
The IAEA has consistently argued that there is no credible civilian use for uranium enriched to 60%, as it is just a short technical step from weapons-grade (90%) uranium.
Russia’s expanding role in Iran talks
As Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West intensifies, Russia has positioned itself as a key diplomatic actor, proposing talks with Washington.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov met with Iranian Ambassador Kazem Jalali on Thursday to discuss international efforts to resolve issues surrounding Iran's nuclear program, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Friday.
Moscow has agreed to assist the US in communicating with Iran on various issues, including its nuclear program and support for regional anti-US proxies, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, later confirmed by the Kremlin.
The report, later picked up by Russian state media, quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that "Russia believes that the United States and Iran should resolve all problems through negotiations" and that Moscow "is ready to do everything in its power to achieve this."
Last month, before the Russian offer of mediation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran, where both sides "aligned their positions" on the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal that unraveled following the US withdrawal in 2018.
Additionally, in an exclusive interview with BBC Persian, Russia’s IAEA envoy Mikhail Ulyanov dismissed Western concerns about Iran’s uranium enrichment, calling US and European warnings a "political pressure tactic."
"Our Western colleagues seem to think the Middle East is too calm, and they want to add fuel to the fire," Ulyanov said.
Missile program and regional influence: a key sticking point
A major sticking point in nuclear negotiations is whether talks will include Iran’s missile program and regional influence, issues that the US insists must be addressed in any new deal, but Tehran and Moscow reject.
"Negotiations should not include Iran’s missile program or its regional influence," Ulyanov said. "Adding these topics would complicate the process and make it unmanageable."
This mirrors the original 2015 JCPOA, which focused solely on Iran’s nuclear program while excluding its missile program and regional activities, a framework Iran insists must remain unchanged.
Iran's shift away from the West
Izadi’s concerns over Russia’s mediation come amid Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s ban on negotiations with the United States, issued in early February after President Donald Trump announced plans to intensify sanctions. Trump called for an agreement that would permanently prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Khamenei has long pushed for closer ties with Russia and China, rejecting reliance on the US and Europe, a stance that has hardened since the US withdrawal from the JCPOA and renewed sanctions.
This shift has had domestic political consequences, most notably in the forced resignation of Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s former Foreign Minister who negotiated the JCPOA.
"I hope that Iran, and I've written them a letter saying, I hope you're going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, it's going to be a terrible thing for them," Trump said in a segment of the interview broadcast on Friday.
"There are two ways Iran can be handled, militarily or you make a deal. I would prefer to make a deal because I'm not looking to hurt Iran," Trump added. "They're great people. I know so many Iranians from this country."
The letter was swiftly dismissed by an official outlet of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, a military force which along with Khamenei is a key decision-maker, as a pointless psychological operation.
Trump made a similar approach in his first term, sending a letter with Japan's prime minister at the time Shinzo Abe. The 2019 letter was disregarded by Khamenei who said it was 'not worthy' of a reply.
Tehran's UN mission in New York said no letter from Trump has been received.
Again saying Iran would not negotiate under the strengthened sanctions Trump imposed last month, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that Israel was trying to embroil the United States and the region in a foolish war.
"It is Israel's desire to involve the other countries in the region in a war. It is Israel's desire to draw America into a war," he said in an interview with AFP.
This is precisely an Israeli plan to drag America into war, and America is extremely vulnerable if it enters a war in the region. They themselves know this."
'One way or the other'
Trump added in his interview that a nuclear deal would be a victory for Iran.
"I think they want to get that letter," he said. "The other alternative is we have to do something, because you can't let another nuclear weapon."
"I'm not sure that everybody agrees with me. But we can make a deal that would be just as good as if you won militarily," US president added. "Something's going to happen one way or the other."
The letter comes after the Trump administration broke with decades of US policy to negotiate directly in recent weeks with the Iran-backed Palestinian Hamas movement it views as a terrorist organization.
Trump’s remarks come as his administration ramps up pressure on Tehran through renewed economic sanctions and enforcement measures targeting Iran’s oil exports.
On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlined the administration’s updated "maximum pressure" campaign, saying that the goal is to push Iran’s economy to the brink by tightening restrictions on its oil trade.
"Making Iran broke again will mark the beginning of our updated sanctions policy," Bessent told the Economic Club of New York, highlighting the impact of US sanctions on the Iranian rial, which has lost half its value in the past six months.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, addressing parliament on Sunday, acknowledged increasing economic pressure, saying that Iranian tankers now face growing uncertainty in unloading their cargoes due to heightened US enforcement.
