Iran and the United States have organized in-depth negotiations in Oman Tyéran’s fast advance nuclear nuclear program On Saturday, discussions that will probably spend the enrichment of the uranium of the Islamic Republic.
The talks lasted several hours in Muscat, the capital wrapped in the mountain of this sultanate at the eastern tip of the Arabian peninsula.
A person close to Steve Witkoff, the American special envoy in the Middle East, acknowledged that the meeting had started and ended later. The source spoke under the cover of anonymity to discuss the closed -door talks. Iranian state television has also reported its conclusion.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi ni Witkoff declared on state television after the talks that the parties had exchanged written points throughout the day in discussions which he described as “very serious and focused on work”.
“This time, negotiations were much more serious than in the past, and we have gradually made deeper and more detailed discussions,” he said. “We have somewhat far away from wider general discussions – although this is not the case that all disagreements have been resolved. The differences still exist on the main questions and on details.”
A senior US administration official said the talks were “positive and productive”.
“This last series of direct and indirect discussions lasted more than four hours,” said the official on condition of anonymity to discuss talks. “There is still a lot to do, but other progress has been made to conclude an agreement. We have agreed to see each other soon, in Europe, and we thank our omani partners for facilitating these discussions.”
Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who mediated the previous two talks in Muscat and Rome, offered a positive note at the end of the negotiations on Saturday.
Iran and the United States “identified a shared aspiration to achieve an agreement based on mutual respect and lasting commitments”, “al-Busaidi published on X.” Basic principles, objectives and technical concerns have all been discussed. Conferences will continue next week with a new high -level meeting temporarily scheduled for May 3. “.
Araghchi arrived in Oman on Friday on the eve of the talks and visited the International Muscat Fair, surrounded by television cameras and photojournalists. Witkoff was in Moscow Friday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and arrived in Oman on Saturday.
Meanwhile on Saturday, a major explosion shake a port in southern Iran Just after the start of the talks, killing four people and injuring more than 500 others. The authorities did not offer any immediate cause for the explosion, which seemed to have been caused by a highly combustible material – although those responsible have excluded its oil and gas industry. The private security company is also linked to a shipping of a chemical ingredient used to also make the missile propellant at the port.
The talks seek to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the overwhelming economic sanctions that the United States has imposed on the Islamic Republic closing over half a century of enmity.
President Trump has repeatedly threatened to trigger air strikes targeting Iran’s program if an agreement is not concluded. Iranian officials are increasingly warning that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stock of uranium enriched at levels close to the quality of weapons.
Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement with the world powers has limited the Tehran program. However, Trump unilaterally withdrew from him in 2018, triggering years of attacks and tensions. The wider Middle East also remains on the edge The War of Israel-Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Mr. Trump, traveling to Rome for The funeral of Pope Francissaid that he hoped that negotiations would lead to a new nuclear agreement. However, he has always held the possibility of a military strike if they did not do so.
“Iran’s situation is going out very well,” said Trump on Air Force One. “We have had a lot of discussions with them and I think we will have an agreement. I prefer to have an agreement that the other alternative. It would be good for humanity.”
He added: “There are people who want to make another type – a much more nasty affair – and I don’t want it to happen to Iran if we can avoid it.”
While Araghchi and Witkoff should again speak through the Omanis, experts on both sides will also begin to negotiate the details of a possible agreement.
On the Iranian side, Iranian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Majid Takht-E Ravanchi will lead the Tehran team of experts, said Mohammad Golzari, an official of the Iranian government. Takht-e Ravanchi participated in the 2015 nuclear talks.
The American technical team, which is expected to arrive in Oman on Friday, will be led by Michael Anton, director of policies for the policies of the American secretary Marco Rubio. Anton does not have the nuclear political experience of those who led the efforts of the United States during the 2015 talks.
Iran insisted that maintaining its enrichment is essential. But Witkoff scrambled the problem by first suggesting in a television interview that Iran could enrich uranium at 3.67%, then later say that all enrichment must stop. The request that all of the enrichment has also been repeated by the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
However, the Iranians hope that the talks could succeed, because the Iranian Rial rebounded historic stockings during which it took more than a million Rials to buy $ 1.
“It is normal to negotiate, to make the nuclear program smaller or larger, and to conclude an agreement,” said Farzin Keivan, a Tehran resident. “Of course, we should not give them everything. After all, we suffered a lot for this program.”
