The US sent secret letters to Iran asking it to partake in talks to determine the fate of Yemen, Iran’s Fars news agency said.

Fars quoted an informed source as saying: “On 12 August US Secretary of State John Kerry sent a message to the Iranian Embassy in Muscat (via the Omani government), suggesting that US-Russian-Iranian negotiations begin to determine the fate of the war, without any mention of Saudi Arabia.”

Iran has not responded to the letters, the source said. “The Islamic Republic did not welcome the letters and did not respond to them yet.”

The source said this was a repeat of the situation during the Iran-Iraq war when Britain sent a message to Tehran saying “we are ready to negotiate”. This was rejected by the then Supreme leader of Iran Ayatollah Khomeini.