Iran and the USA held a fourth spherical of negotiations Sunday over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, simply forward of a visit by President Donald Trump to the Middle East this week.
The talks ran for some three hours in Muscat, the capital of Oman, which has been mediating the negotiations, mentioned a U.S. official. Iranian state tv quoted Iranian International Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei as additionally saying the talks passed off for that lengthy and {that a} choice on the subsequent spherical of talks is underneath dialogue.
Baghaei didn’t elaborate. The U.S. official, talking on situation of anonymity to debate the closed-door negotiations, provided a bit of bit extra, describing them as being each oblique and direct.
“Settlement was reached to maneuver ahead with the talks to proceed working via technical components,” the U.S. official mentioned. “We’re inspired by at the moment’s end result and sit up for our subsequent assembly, which can occur within the close to future.”
The talks search to restrict Iran’s nuclear program in trade for the lifting of a number of the crushing financial sanctions the U.S. has imposed on the Islamic Republic, closing in on half a century of enmity.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officers more and more warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to close weapons-grade ranges. In the meantime, Israel has threatened to strike Iran’s nuclear services on their very own if it feels threatened, additional complicating tensions within the Mideast already spiked by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Iranian state tv introduced the talks had begun. There was no rapid remark from the U.S. aspect.
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The fourth spherical comes forward of Trump’s journey
The talks once more noticed Iranian International Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff lead the negotiations. They’ve met and spoken face-to-face within the talks, however the majority of the negotiations seem to have been oblique, with Omani International Minister Badr al-Busaidi shuttling messages between the 2 sides.
Iran has insisted that preserving its means to complement uranium is a pink line for its theocracy. Witkoff additionally has muddied the difficulty by first suggesting in a tv interview that Iran may enrich uranium at 3.67%, then later saying that every one enrichment should cease.
“An enrichment program can by no means exist within the state of Iran ever once more,” Witkoff advised the right-wing Breitbart information web site in a bit revealed Friday. “That’s our pink line. No enrichment. Which means dismantlement, it means no weaponization, and it signifies that Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan — these are their three enrichment services — must be dismantled.”
Araghchi, nonetheless, warned once more that enrichment stays a pink line for Iran.
“This can be a proper of the Iranian individuals that’s not up for negotiation or compromise. Enrichment is among the achievements and honors of the Iranian nation,” Araghchi mentioned Sunday earlier than leaving Tehran. “A heavy value has been paid for this enrichment. The blood of our nuclear scientists has been shed for it. That is completely non-negotiable. That has been our clear stance that we have now all the time voiced.”
Iran’s 2015 nuclear take care of world powers capped Tehran’s enrichment at 3.67% and lowered its uranium stockpile to 300 kilograms (661 kilos). That degree is sufficient for nuclear energy vegetation, however far beneath weapons-grade ranges of 90%.
Because the nuclear deal’s collapse in 2018 with Trump’s unilateral withdrawal of the U.S. from the accord, Iran has deserted all limits on its program and enriched uranium to as much as 60% purity — a brief, technical step from weapons-grade ranges. There have additionally been a sequence of assaults at sea and on land in recent times, stemming from the tensions even earlier than the Israel-Hamas struggle started.
Iran faces pressures at house as talks proceed
Iran additionally faces challenges at house, exacerbated by sanctions. Its troubled rial foreign money, as soon as over 1 million to $1, has strengthened dramatically because of the talks alone to round 830,000 to $1.
Nevertheless, the 2 sides nonetheless seem a good distance from any deal, whilst time ticks away. Iranian media broadly reported a two-month deadline imposed by Trump in his preliminary letter despatched to Iran’s Supreme Chief, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump mentioned he wrote the letter on March 5, which made it to Iran by way of an Emirati diplomat on March 12 — placing the deadline in concept as Monday when Trump takes off from Washington for his journey to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran’s inner politics are nonetheless infected over the mandatory hijab, or scarf, with girls nonetheless ignoring the regulation on the streets of Tehran. Rumors additionally persist over the federal government doubtlessly rising the price of backed gasoline within the nation, which has sparked nationwide protests prior to now.
In the meantime, the final spherical of talks in Oman on April 26 passed off as an explosion rocked a southern Iranian port, killing dozens of individuals and injuring over 1,000 others. Iran nonetheless hasn’t defined what induced the blast on the Shahid Rajaei port, which has been linked to a shipment of missile fuel components to the Islamic Republic.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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