WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he had sent a letter to the Iranian government seeking to negotiate a deal to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

He said the letter was sent Wednesday and addressed to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader. The White House did not immediately respond to a request to provide the letter or further describe its contents. Iran’s mission to the United Nations said Friday that Iran had received no such letter to date.

Speaking on Friday in the Oval Office, Trump suggested that Iran’s nuclear capabilities were reaching a critical point. “We’re down to final strokes with Iran,” he said, adding, “We can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”

In an interview that aired earlier Friday on Fox Business, Trump said: “There are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal. I would prefer to make a deal, because I’m not looking to hurt Iran. They’re great people.”

The move is a sharp pivot for Trump, who in 2018 withdrew the United States from a nuclear deal with Iran.

— The New York Times