Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated Wednesday (April 16, 2025) that Iran’s enrichment of uranium as a part of its nuclear programme was “non-negotiable” after US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff referred to as for a halt.
“Iran’s enrichment is a real, accepted matter. We are ready to build confidence in response to possible concerns, but the issue of enrichment is non-negotiable,” Mr. Araghchi advised reporters after a cupboard assembly.
The remarks got here as Mr. Araghchi and Mr. Witkoff are because of meet once more in Oman on Saturday, per week after they held the highest-level talks between the longtime foes since U.S. President Donald Trump deserted a landmark nuclear deal in 2018.
Mr. Trump reimposed sweeping sanctions in a coverage of “maximum pressure” towards Tehran that he has reinstated since returning to workplace in January.
In March, he despatched a letter to Iran’s supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging talks however warning of potential navy motion in the event that they fail to provide a deal.
Both sides described Saturday’s assembly as “constructive”.
But on Tuesday, Mr. Witkoff stated Iran should “stop and eliminate” its enrichment of uranium as a part of any nuclear deal.
He had beforehand demanded solely that Iran return to the three.67 % enrichment ceiling set by the 2015 accord between Iran and main powers that Trump withdrew from.
‘Contradictory’
Mr. Araghchi condemned what he referred to as the “contradictory and conflicting positions” popping out of the Trump administration forward of Saturday’s talks.
“We will find out the true opinions of the Americans during the negotiation session,” he stated.
Iran’s prime diplomat stated he hoped to begin negotiations on the framework of a potential settlement however stated that required “constructive positions” from the United States.
“If we continue to [hear] contradictory and conflicting positions, we are going to have problems,” he warned.
Mr. Araghchi is ready to move to Iranian ally Russia on Thursday, Iran’s ambassador in Moscow Kazem Jalili stated.
Iran has stated the go to was “pre-planned” however will embody discussions on the Iran-US talks.
“The objective of [my] trip to Russia is to convey a written message from the supreme leader” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr. Araghchi stated.
In readiness for the U.S. talks, Iran has engaged with Russia and China, which had been each events to the 2015 deal.
Ahead of Saturday’s second spherical of talks in Muscat, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated he hoped a deal might be reached with the United States, the official IRNA information company reported.
On Tuesday, Khamenei cautioned that whereas the talks have proceeded nicely of their early phases, they may nonetheless show fruitless.
“The negotiations may or may not yield results,” he stated, noting that Iran had already outlined its “red lines”.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have stated the nation’s navy capabilities are off-limits within the talks.
Late on Sunday, IRNA stated Iran’s regional affect and its missile capabilities — each sources of concern for Western governments — had been additionally amongst its “red lines”.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi was due in Iran later Wednesday for talks with senior officers.
The UN watchdog was tasked with overseeing Iran’s compliance with the 2015 nulear deal.
In its newest report, the IAEA stated Iran had an estimated 274.8 kilograms (605 kilos) of uranium enriched to as much as 60 %.
That stage far exceeds the the three.67 % ceiling set by the 2015 deal however nonetheless falls wanting the 90 % threshold required for a nuclear warhead.
Published – April 17, 2025 01:23 am IST
