Iran says “indirect negotiations” begin with U.S. envoy, a nuclear program that is moving forward rapidly against Tehran – state
Envoys from Iran and the United States began negotiations on Oman’s rapid development of nuclear plans for Tehran on Saturday since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
There is no general agreement, but the bet to close negotiations between the two countries in a half century of hatred will not be higher. If no deal is reached, Trump has repeatedly threatened to release air strikes against Iran's nuclear program. Iranian officials are increasingly warning that they can use uranium to store to near-weapon-level levels in pursuit of nuclear weapons.
A private plane from Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, Russia, arrived in Oman on Saturday morning, flight tracking data analyzed by the Associated Press. U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff just met with Russian President Vladimir Putin there on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Iranian Foreign Ministry released a video of Tehran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi meeting with Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported that Araghchi provided Iran's “position and key points to convey the negotiations to the United States.”
The IRNA report recommends that the meeting will be held later on Saturday.
Associated Press reporters saw that the convoy was believed to have carried Witkov to leave Oman's Foreign Ministry and accelerated into the Muscat suburbs. The convoy entered a compound and a few minutes later, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei wrote on social platform X that “indirect negotiations” had begun.
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“These talks will be held at the location planned by the Oman host, with representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States sitting in the hall and side to convey their views and positions to their views and positions through the Omanian Foreign Minister,” Baghaei wrote.
Araghchi had an earlier conversation with Iranian journalists.
“If both sides have enough will, we will decide a timeline. However, it's too early to talk about that,” Araghchi said in an audio clip published by IRNA. “It is now obvious that the negotiations are indirect, and in our opinion, only on the nuclear issue and will be reached on the same basis as necessary and lead to ensuring the national interest of the Iranian people.”
Both Trump and Witkov described the speech as “direct.”
“I think our position starts with demolishing your plan. This is our position today,” Witkoff told the Wall Street Journal before his trip. “By the way, this doesn’t mean it’s on the edge, and we won’t find other ways to find compromises between the two countries.”
He added: “Where will our red line be, your nuclear energy cannot be weaponized”.
While the U.S. side can provide sanctions relief to Iran's plagued economy, it is unclear how much Iran is willing to admit. Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran can only maintain a small portion of its uranium reserves, reaching 3.67%. Today, Tehran's stock can allow its choice, if it chooses, and it has up to 60% material, far from the level of weapon level, it can be rich in 60%. Since Trump unilaterally withdrew his U.S. from 2018 negotiations, Iran may demand to enrich uranium to at least 20%.
One thing it won't do is to give up its program altogether. This led Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to propose a so-called Libyan solution – “You go in, blow up facilities, remove all equipment, and under the supervision of the United States, the United States executes” – not feasible.
Iranians, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have been sticking with what ended up happening to the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was killed by rebels during the 2011 Arab spring uprising in the country to warn you what will happen when you believe in the United States.
& Copy 2025 Canadian Press
