Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said calls for negotiations by “bully states” are aimed at dominating others, not resolving issues, after US President Donald Trump urged him to reach a nuclear deal.

Trump sent a letter to Tehran proposing negotiations on its nuclear program or threatening military action. But he hasn’t waited for a reply to bomb Iranian-allied Houthi rebels.

Iran’s U.N. mission said it would be willing to discuss its nuclear program if talks were restricted to military concerns, after its supreme leader appeared to reject President Trump’s offer to start discussions.

Iran says it would consider negotiations with the United States if talks were confined to concerns about the militarization of the country’s nuclear program.

Iran will respond to U.S. President Donald Trump's invitation to talks after proper scrutiny, the foreign ministry said on Monday, accusing Washington of not matching actions with words. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian have rejected Trump's letter and public exhortations for nuclear talks as deceptive and bullying.

Trump official sends ‘clear’ message to Iran-backed Houthis Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on U.S. strikes launched against Iran-backed Houthis, Trump's letter to Iran about the country's nuclear program and allocating an increase in defense spending.

China and Russia are both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, along with France and Britain, that took part in the original 2015 Iran nuclear deal preliminary framework agreement. Trump withdrew America from the accord in 2018, setting in motion years of tensions in the wider Middle East.