Tehran, Apr 12 (EFE) – Iran and the United States held talks in a “productive, calm and positive atmosphere” in Oman on Saturday in search of an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program and will continue the dialogue in a week.
“I think we are very close to a basis for negotiations and if we can conclude this basis next week, we’ll have gone a long way and will be able to start real discussions based on that,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told state television.
The negotiations took place indirectly between the two countries, but their representatives, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, spoke briefly in person in Muscat, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Araqchi and Witkoff “exchanged the positions of their respective governments” on Iran’s nuclear program and US sanctions “in a constructive atmosphere based on mutual respect.”
The negotiations lasted two and a half hours, with the two sides in separate rooms and exchanging four messages through Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad al Busaidi.
Following the meeting, Araqchi announced that the two sides would meet again in Muscat in a week, on Saturday.
“We will discuss the general framework of a potential agreement next Saturday,” Araghchi said.
He did not specify the format of the next round of negotiations after Washington assured that Saturday’s talks would be direct and Tehran insisted that they would remain indirect.
Upon his arrival in Muscat this morning, Araqchi said he was seeking “an agreement as soon as possible, although reaching an agreement will not be easy.
The veteran diplomat, who was also involved in the 2015 nuclear deal, further insisted that he would only negotiate on the nuclear issue, which would leave out Iran’s missile program and Tehran’s for regional groups such as Yemen’s Houthis or Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Washington has said in recent days that the negotiations will be direct and that it wants to include missiles and these other regional groups.
These differences come after US President Donald Trump himself warned several times of possible attacks against Iran if it does not agree to negotiate an agreement, and Iranian counter-threats to cut off all cooperation with the UN nuclear agency.
During his first term in office (2017-2021), Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 deal between Iran and other powers that set strict limits on Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Since then, Iran has been enriching uranium far beyond what was allowed under the defunct agreement and already has 274 kilograms enriched to 60% purity, close to the military grade of 90%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. EFE
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