Iran says Trump's letter will be delivered via UAE

A senior Emirati diplomat will personally convey to his Iranian counterparts in Tehran a letter from US President Trump urging a nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

"Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic advisor to the President of the United Arab Emirates, will meet and hold consultations with Abbas Araghchi, the Foreign Minister, later today. During this visit, he is carrying a letter from Donald Trump, the President of the United States, to Iran," said Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson in an interview with ISNA.

Earlier on Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that an Arab intermediary would deliver a letter from US President Donald Trump to Tehran, just days after Iran had denied the existence of such a letter.

On Friday, Trump said that he had sent a letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, offering negotiations while warning of military consequences if talks over its nuclear program failed.

A day after Trump publicly revealed his letter, Khamenei made a speech in which he made no mention of the letter but declared that the Islamic Republic would not negotiate with "bullying" powers.

During the week, Iran’s foreign minister and the ministry’s spokesman said that Tehran had not received any letter from Trump,

The belated admission by Iran of Trump's reaching out his hand for negotiations comes on the back of Wednesday's announcement of a closed doors UN Security Council meeting over Iran's nuclear program, news which has infuriated Tehran.

Araghchi said: "A closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council has been requested, which is a completely new procedure and surprising, and questions the goodwill of the countries requesting this meeting."

It had been requested by France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, Britain and the US as Tehran's nuclear program edges ever closed to weapons grade uranium.

"We have always been ready to negotiate on the nuclear issue from an equal position, and we have also negotiated on the JCPOA, and negotiations are ongoing," Araghchi added.

He said that Iran would soon have a fifth round of talks with the European powers forming part of the nuclear deal -- France, Britain and Germany -- and confirmed a meeting in Beijing on Friday with the other members, Russia and China.

"The United States withdrew from the JCPOA a long time ago, and we are negotiating with three European countries, and a new round of it will be held soon," he noted.

On Tuesday, President Masoud Pezeshkian lambasted Trump's threat of military action if Tehran did not come to a nuclear deal, saying the Islamic Republic would not be forced to negotiate.

"What (Trump) did to that Zelensky is truly shameful," the relatively moderate president said, referring to an Oval office showdown between Trump and the Ukrainian president - Washington's erstwhile wartime partner.

Iranian officials have cited the blowup as a sign of the United States' bullying on the world stage. Tehran has resisted Trump's overtures for a new deal over its nuclear program and its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has ruled out talks.

Khamenei, Iran's top decision-maker, has repeatedly rejected the notion after insisting the United States cannot be trusted.