The United States and Iran have expert conversations about Tehran

Iran and the United States celebrated negotiations in depth in Oman about The nuclear program that Tehran advances quickly On Saturday, the conversations that probably depend on the enrichment of Uranium of the Islamic Republic.

The conversations lasted several hours in Muscat, the capital wrapped in the mountain of this sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian peninsula.

A person close to Steve Witkoff, the special envoy of the United States to the Middle East, acknowledged that the meeting had begun and then ended. The source spoke about anonymity to discuss closed doors. Iranian state television also reported its conclusion.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi or Witkoff He told state television after the conversations that the parties exchanged points written throughout the day in the discussions that he described as “very serious and focused on work.”

“This time, the negotiations were much more serious than in the past, and we gradually enter into deeper and detailed discussions,” he said. “We have moved away some broader general discussions, although it is not the case that all disagreements have been resolved. There are still differences in both important problems and in details.”

A senior US administration official said the conversations were “positive and productive.”

“This last round of direct and indirect discussions lasted more than four hours,” said the official based on anonymity to discuss conversations. “There is still a lot to do, but progress was made to reach an agreement. We agreed to meet again in Europe, and we thank our Odani partners for facilitating these conversations.”

Omaní Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi, who has mediated the two previous round of conversations in Muscat and Rome, offered a positive note at the end of Saturday’s negotiations.

Iran and the United States “identified a shared aspiration to reach an agreement based on mutual respect and lasting commitments,” Al-Busidi published in X. “All basic principles, objectives and technical concerns were addressed. The conversations will continue next week with an additional high-level meeting scheduled for May 3 for May 3.”

Araghchi arrived on Friday in Oman on the eve of the conversations and visited the International Book Fair of Muscat, surrounded by television cameras and photojournalists. Witkoff was in Moscow on Friday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and arrived on Saturday.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, a great explosion shook a port in southern Iran Just after the conversations began, killing four people and wounding more than 500 another 500. The authorities did not offer an immediate cause of the explosion, which seemed to have been caused by a highly fuel material, although the officials ruled out their oil and gas industry. The private security firm was also linked to a shipment of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellants to the port.

The conversations seek to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the elevation of some of the overwhelming economic sanctions that the United States has imposed on the Islamic Republic that is close to half a century of enmity.

The president of the United States, Trump, has repeatedly threatened to unleash air attacks aimed at the Iran program if an agreement is not reached. Iranian officials warn more and more that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their enriched uranium arsenal to close levels of degree of weapons.

Iran’s nuclear agreement in 2015 with world powers limited Tehran’s program. However, Trump retired unilaterally in 2018, moving years of attacks and tensions. The widest Middle East also remains nervous The Israel-Hamas War in the Gaza Strip.

Mr. Trump, traveling to Rome for The funeral of Pope Francisagain he said that the negotiations will lead to a new nuclear agreement. However, the possibility of a military strike still resisted if they did not.

“Iran’s situation is going very well,” Trump said on Air Force One. “We have had many conversations with them and I think we are going to have a deal. I prefer to have a deal than the other alternative. That would be good for humanity.”

He added: “There are some people who want to make a different type of treatment, a much more unpleasant treatment, and I don’t want that to happen to Iran if we can avoid it.”

While Araghchi and Witkoff are expected to speak again through the Odes, experts on both sides will also begin to negotiate details of a possible agreement.

From the Iranian side, Iranian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Majid Takht-E Ravanchi, will direct Tehran’s team of experts, said Mohammad Golzari, an Iranian government official. Takht-E Ravanchi participated in the 2015 nuclear conversations.

The United States Technical Team, which is expected to arrive in Oman on Friday, will be led by Michael Anton, the director of the Secretary of State of the United States, the Planning staff of Marco Rubio. Anton does not have the experience of nuclear policy of those who led the United States efforts in the 2015 conversations.

Iran has insisted that maintaining its enrichment is key. But Witkoff has buried the problem by suggesting first in a television interview that Iran could enrich Uranium at 3.67%, then saying that every enrichment must stop. The demand that the entire enrichment stop has also been repeated by the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.

However, the Iranians still hope that conversations can be successful, since the Iranian rial has recovered from historical minimums during which it took more than 1 million rial to buy $ 1.

“It is well to negotiate, make the nuclear program smaller or larger, and reach an agreement,” said Tehran resident, Farzin Keivan. “Of course, we should not give them everything. After all, we have suffered a lot for this program.”

In:
• Iran