Iran Trump says he raised new nuclear pact in letter to regime

Donald Trump has said he wants to negotiate a new deal with Iran to prevent its development of nuclear arms and sent a letter to its leaders saying he hoped they would open talks.

- Patrick Wintour

It is the first practical step taken by the US president to see if new negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme are possible.

Trump pulled the US out of the previous agreement - which imposed curbs on Iran's nuclear program in return for sanctions relief - in 2018, and since then Tehran has built a stockpile of highly enriched uranium that is enough for use in multiple nuclear weapons.

"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 told Fox Business in a clip broadcast on Friday. "You can't let them have a nuclear weapon."

The letter appeared to have been addressed to Iran's supreme leader, the 85-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has recently opposed negotiations with the US while economic sanctions are still in force.