Iran and the United States take more negotiations Next week during the Téhéran Quick Nuclear Nuclear program, Iranian state television reported on Saturday at the end of the first series of talks between the two countries since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Iranian state television also said that the American envoy of the Middle East Steve Witkoff and the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi “briefly spoke in the presence of the Minister of Omani Foreign Affairs” at the end of the talks, marking a direct interaction between the two nations locked in decades of tensions.
US officials did not immediately recognize Iranian reports. The two parties spoke for more than two hours in a place at the outskirts of Oman, ending the talks around 5:50 p.m. local time. The talks started around 3:30 p.m. premises.
The challenges of negotiations could not be higher for the two nations Closing over half a century of enmity. Trump has repeatedly threatened to trigger air strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear 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.
The discussions took place on Saturday afternoon in Oman
AP journalists saw a convoy that would bring Witkoff to leave the Omanian foreign ministry on Saturday afternoon, then accelerate on the outskirts of Muscat. The convoy entered a complex and a few minutes later, the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Esmail Baghaei wrote on the social platform X that “indirect talks” had started.
“These talks will take place at a location provided by the Omanis host, with representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States sitting in the corridors and teams, transmitting their views and their positions through the Omani Foreign Minister of Foreign Affairs,” wrote Baghaei.
About an hour later, Baghaei appeared on Iranian state television and recognized that the talks had lasted all this time.
“The objective of the Islamic Republic of Iran is very clear-we have only one objective, and it is to protect the national interests of Iran,” he said. “We give a real and honest opportunity for diplomacy, so that by dialogue, we can move forward on the nuclear issue on the one hand, and more importantly for us, the lifting of sanctions.”
Baghaei added: “Listen, this is only the beginning. It is therefore natural that at this stage, the two parties will present their fundamental positions through the Omani mediator. Consequently, we do not expect this series of negotiations to be long.”
Araghchi spoke earlier with Iranian journalists.
“If there is a sufficient will on both sides, we will decide a calendar. But it is still too early to talk about it,” said Araghchi, in an audio clip published by Irna. “What is clear now is that the negotiations are indirect, and in our opinion only on the nuclear issue, and will be carried out with the will to reach an agreement which is on an equal footing and leads to guarantee the national interests of the Iranian people.”
Trump and Witkoff both described talks as “direct”.
“I think our position begins with the dismantling of your program. This is our position today,” Witkoff told Wall Street Journal before his trip. “This does not mean, by the way, that on the fringes, we are not going to find other ways to find compromises between the two countries.”
He added: “Where our red line will be, there cannot be an armament of your nuclear capacity”.
The sanctions are distributed and enrichment remain the main problems
Although the American team can offer sanctions to sanctions to the besieged economy of Iran, it is not clear to what extent Iran will be willing to concede. Under the 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran could only maintain a small stock of uranium enriched at 3.67%. Today, the Stock of Tehran could allow it to build several nuclear weapons if it chooses it and it has enriched equipment up to 60%, a short technical step in the quality of weapons. Judging by negotiations since Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the agreement in 2018, Iran will likely ask to continue to enrich uranium up to at least 20%.
One thing he will not do is to give up his program entirely. This makes the proposal of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a so -called Libyan solution – “You enter, explode the facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision, American execution” – Impractable.
