An Emirati diplomat earlier identified by Tehran as carrying a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump seeking to jump-start talks over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program has met with Iran’s for

U.S. President Donald Trump's letter to Iran's clerical establishment "will soon be delivered to Tehran by an Arab country," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in televised remarks on Wednesday.

The US president says he has proposed talks on a deal to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons and to avert military action.

TEHRAN, Iran -- China, Iran and Russia conducted joint naval drills Tuesday in the Middle East, offering a show of force in a region still uneasy over Tehran's rapidly expanding nuclear program and as Yemen's Houthi rebels threaten new attacks on ships.

Warships from Iran, China and Russia kicked off their annual joint exercises in the Gulf of Oman on Monday, in a show of strengthening military ties as US President Donald Trump upends longstanding Western alliances.

China, Iran and Russia have conducted joint naval drills in the Middle East. Called the Maritime Security Belt 2025, the exercises took place in the Gulf of Oman near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all crude oil traded worldwide passes.