Above photo: Evelyn Hockstein, Amer HILABI / POOL/AFP/File.
Tehran says the negotiations are aimed at lifting US economic sanctions.
And will not involve its defense capabilities, such as its missile program.
Indirect talks between Iran and the US have begun in Oman regarding Iran’s nuclear program and economic sanctions imposed by Washington on Tehran as a result of it.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi leads the Iranian delegation, while Steve Witkoff, the US President’s Special Representative for the Middle East, will represent the US side. Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidy will mediate.
Iran maintains that these talks are solely about nuclear issues and has rejected negotiations regarding any of its defense capabilities, such as its missile ballistic program.
“What is clear now is that the negotiations are indirect and, in our view, only on the nuclear issue, and will be carried out with the necessary will to reach an agreement that is from an equal position and leads to securing Iran’s national interests,” Araghchi stated Saturday.
US President Donald Trump has built up US military forces in the region in recent weeks, threatening to bomb Iran if it does not reach a deal to give up its effort to produce a nuclear weapon.
Tehran says its nuclear program is only for civilian purposes and that developing nuclear weapons is un-Islamic.
Iran said it’s giving high-level nuclear talks with the U.S. “a genuine chance” as both sides have agreed to meet in Oman.
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Iran has repeatedly emphasized that it will not accept threats in these talks and will only discuss the nuclear issue based on win-win negotiations.
Tehran says it will negotiate based on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) framework, namely building trust in exchange for lifting US economic sanctions.
Iran signed the JCPOA with former US president Barack Obama in 2015. Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018 during his first term in office. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu encouraged Trump to renege on the deal.
Esmail Baghaei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, said, “Iran’s goals are clear, and that is to secure Iran’s national interests. We are giving diplomacy a real and honest opportunity so that through dialogue, we can advance the nuclear issue on the one hand and, more importantly for us, the lifting of sanctions.”
“Iran has proven in the past few decades that it is committed to diplomacy in practice. We have proven this well in practice on the nuclear issue in the past two decades,” Baghaei added.
The talks will be held at a location planned by the Omani host, with representatives of the Islamic Republic and the US seated in separate rooms. The parties will convey their points of view and positions to each other through the Omani Foreign Minister.
Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani stated that every message must be written and clear, without exposition or footnotes. She explained that this approach prevents attempts by those opposing the negotiations to create unsubstantiated narratives.