MUSCAT, Oman (AP) — Iran and the USA will maintain extra negotiations subsequent week over Tehran’s quickly advancing nuclear program, Iranian state tv reported Saturday on the finish of the primary spherical of talks between the 2 nations since President Donald Trump returned to the White Home.
Iranian state TV stated U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Overseas Minister Abbas Araghchi “briefly spoke in the presence of the Omani foreign minister” on the finish of the talks, marking a direct interactions between the 2 nations locked in many years of tensions.
American officers didn’t instantly acknowledge the Iranian stories, which Tehran doubtless speeded out to its public forward of a attainable Trump put up on a social media. However declaring that the 2 sides spoke face-to-face — even when briefly — suggests the negotiations went effectively.
The talks started at round 3:30 p.m. native. The 2 sides spoke for over two hours at a location within the outskirts of Oman, ending the talks round 5:50 p.m. native time. The convoy believed to be carrying Witkoff returned to Muscat, the capital of Oman, earlier than disappearing into site visitors round a neighborhood that’s residence to the U.S. Embassy.
The stakes of the negotiations couldn’t be greater for the 2 nations closing in on half a century of enmity. Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes concentrating on Iran’s nuclear program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officers more and more warn that they may pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to close weapons-grade ranges.
Talks befell Saturday afternoon in Oman
AP journalists noticed a convoy believed to be carrying Witkoff depart the Omani Overseas Ministry on Saturday afternoon after which pace off into the outskirts of Muscat. The convoy went right into a compound and some minutes later, Iranian Overseas Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei wrote on the social platform X that the “indirect talks” had begun.
“These talks will be held at a location planned by the Omani host, with representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States seated in the halls and sides, conveying their points of view and positions to each other through the Omani Foreign Minister,” Baghaei wrote.
About an hour later, Baghaei appeared on Iranian state tv and acknowledged the talks had been happening all that point.
“The objective of the Islamic Republic of Iran is very clear — we have only one goal, and that is to safeguard Iran’s national interests,” he stated. “We are giving a genuine and honest opportunity to diplomacy, so that through dialogue, we can move forward on the nuclear issue on one hand, and more importantly for us, the lifting of sanctions.”
Baghaei added: “Look, this is just a beginning. So it is natural that, at this stage, both sides will present their foundational positions through the Omani mediator. Therefore, we do not expect this round of negotiations to be lengthy.”
Araghchi earlier spoke to Iranian journalists.
“If there is sufficient will on both sides, we will decide on a timetable. But it is still too early to talk about that,” Araghchi stated, in an audio clip printed by IRNA. “What is clear now is that the negotiations are indirect, and in our view only on the nuclear issue, and will be conducted with the necessary will to reach an agreement that is on an equal footing and leads to securing the national interests of the Iranian people.”
Trump and Witkoff each had described the talks as being “direct.”
“I think our position begins with dismantlement of your program. That is our position today,” Witkoff advised The Wall Road Journal earlier than his journey. “That doesn’t mean, by the way, that at the margin we’re not going to find other ways to find compromise between the two countries.”
He added: “Where our red line will be, there can’t be weaponization of your nuclear capability,”
Sanctions aid and enrichment stay prime points
Whereas the U.S. aspect can provide sanctions aid for Iran’s beleaguered economic system, it stays unclear simply how a lot Iran will probably be keen to concede. Beneath the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran may solely preserve a small stockpile of uranium enriched to three.67%. Immediately, Tehran’s stockpile may enable it to construct a number of nuclear weapons if it so chooses and it has some materials enriched as much as 60%, a brief, technical step away from weapons-grade ranges. Judging from negotiations since Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the deal in 2018, Iran will doubtless ask to maintain enriching uranium as much as at the least 20%.
One factor it received’t do is quit its program solely. That makes the proposal of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a so-called Libyan resolution — “you go in, blow up the facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision, American execution” — unworkable.
Iranians together with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have held up what finally occurred to the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was killed along with his personal gun by rebels within the nation’s 2011 Arab Spring rebellion, as a warning about what can occur while you belief the USA.
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Related Press author Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
