Iran and the US mentioned that they held “positive” and “constructive” talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme because the Donald Trump administration rushed to make a brand new deal.
Iranian and American officers met in Oman on Saturday and agreed to reconvene subsequent week to proceed the talks, days after Mr Trump threatened army motion if there was no deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme.
The US president’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian international minister Abbas Araghchi “briefly spoke” collectively, based on Iran’s state broadcaster.
Mr Araghchi described the assembly as constructive to state TV, including that 4 rounds of messages had been exchanged throughout the oblique portion.
“Both sides, including the Americans, have said that their goal is also to reach an agreement in the shortest possible time,” he said. “However, that will certainly not be an easy task.”
He sought to downplay the encounter as “a quick preliminary dialog, greetings and well mannered exchanges”, likely to avoid drawing the anger of hardliners in Iran.
Mr Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Saturday the talks were “going OK”. “I can not inform you as a result of nothing issues till you get it achieved, so I do not like speaking about it,” he mentioned. “The Iran situation is going pretty good, I think.”
He had made a shock announcement final week that Washington and Tehran would start talks in Oman, a Gulf state that beforehand mediated between the West and the Islamic Republic.
The West had till October this yr to set off a “snapback” of UN sanctions on Iran for violating its phrases.
The president this yr publicly declared his objective of reaching a brand new settlement with Tehran that might result in the shutdown of Iran’s nuclear weapons programme.
Mr Trump confronted criticism for withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or the Iran nuclear deal, throughout his first presidency in 2018.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is “entirely peaceful” regardless of a few of its officers more and more threatening to pursue a bomb after the battle with Israel escalated final yr.
The White House described the discussions in Oman as “very positive and constructive” whereas conceding the problems that wanted to be resolved had been “very complicated”.
“Special envoy Witkoff’s direct communication today was a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome,” the White House mentioned.
Saturday’s exchanges had been oblique and mediated by Oman, as Iran had needed, relatively than face-to-face, as Mr Trump had demanded. Each delegation had its separate room and exchanged messages through Oman’s international minister.
Iran beforehand rejected direct talks with Washington after Mr Trump in a letter to Iran’s supreme chief Ali Khamenei warned that “there are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal”.
Iran mentioned it could not bow to American “orders to talk”.
Since then, Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened to launch strikes on Iran’s nuclear programme if a deal will not be reached.
Omani international minister Badr al-Busaidi, who shuttled between the 2 sides, mentioned Iran and the US had a “shared aim of concluding a fair and binding agreement”.
“I wish to thank my two colleagues for this engagement, which came about in a pleasant ambiance conducive to bridging viewpoints and finally reaching regional and world peace, safety and stability,” he wrote on X. “We will proceed to work collectively and put additional efforts to help in arriving at this objective.”
The subsequent spherical of talks is ready to happen on 19 April.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-nuclear-deal-trump-oman-talks-b2732382.html