While expressing openness to a deal with Tehran, Trump has reinstated his "maximum pressure" campaign to isolate Iran from the global economy and drive its oil exports down toward zero.

President Trump's letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was delivered on Wednesday by a senior adviser to the President of the United Arab Emirates, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman told Axios.

China, Iran and Russia called for diplomacy over “pressure and threats” and an end to “all illegal unilateral sanctions” following talks on Tehran’s nuclear program Friday in Beijing, Chinese state media said.