The New York Times:

By Farnaz Fassihi

Iran announced on Thursday it had responded to a letter from President Trump in which the American president had urged direct negotiations with the government in Tehran on a deal to curb the country’s advancing nuclear program.

Iran appeared to be taking the middle ground, neither rejecting negotiations with the United States nor accepting face-to-face talks with Mr. Trump.

But Kamal Kharazi, the top foreign policy adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said, according to local news reports, “The Islamic Republic has not closed all the doors and is willing to begin indirect negotiations with the United States.”

The countries have not had official diplomatic relations since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, but they have engaged directly and indirectly on issues like the nuclear program, detainee swaps and regional tensions.

Iran said it submitted its written reply to Mr. Trump through Oman on Wednesday. The foreign minister of Iran, Abbas Araghchi, said Tehran had presented a comprehensive view on the issues raised by Mr. Trump and on the overall situation in the Middle East, according to the official news agency IRNA.

“Our policy is to not negotiate directly while there is maximum pressure policy and threats of military strikes,” Mr. Araghchi said on Thursday. “But indirect negotiations can take place as they have in the past.”

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