ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi briefed his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein on the content of a letter by US President Donald Trump to the Iranian leadership and stressed that Tehran would respond to it, in a phone call on Monday evening, according to a statement by the Iraqi foreign ministry. 

Araghchi "briefed Minister Hussein on the content of US President Donald Trump’s letter to the Iranian leadership, represented by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, affirming that the Iranian government will respond to the letter,” the statement said. 

Earlier this month, Trump said that he had written a letter to the Iranian leadership pressing them for talks over the nuclear issue and warning that the other alternative would be military action.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected the idea of engaging in negotiations with the US on the nuclear issue, calling Washington’s proposal for talks “a deception of public opinion.”

Iraq’s Hussein appreciated “the step of being informed of the content of President Trump’s letter and hoped that the exchange of letters would contribute to opening channels for dialogue between the two sides,” the statement added.

Hussein and Araghchi “agreed to continue communicating, especially during the next critical period."

The Iranian foreign ministry said last week it would respond to the Trump letter after scrutiny, but did not indicate when exactly. 

"So far, we have no reason to publicize the letter,” foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei during his last week’s televised press conference. "Our response to this letter will be done through appropriate channels after full scrutiny.”

The Iranian government has repeatedly said there is no possibility of direct talks with the US over the nuclear issue for as long as the US applies its maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.

US President Donald Trump in early February signed a memorandum restoring his “maximum pressure” policy against Iran, which entails a series of strenuous sanctions on Tehran, while also detailing a set of new economic measures against the country.

In 2015, world powers agreed to ease international sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on Tehran’s nuclear program, a deal that came to be known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The United States under Trump’s first-term administration, unilaterally withdrew from the landmark deal three years later, reimposing economic sanctions on Tehran, causing massive financial damage to the country’s economy.

Iran insists that their efforts are peaceful. The US, however, has remained cautious of Tehran’s nuclear program, suspecting that their nuclear project strives toward the development of nuclear weapons.

Iraq’s top diplomat Hussein and his Iranian counterpart Araghchi discussed several other topics, including Baghdad-Tehran bilateral relations and new regional developments in the wake of Israel’s new military campaigns on Gaza after the fallout of ceasefire talks and Tel Aviv’s sporadic strikes on neighboring Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.