Iran Says Talks With US Were ‘Very Intense and Serious’
Jonathan Tirone, Bloomberg News Nuclear Correspondent, breaks down the latest round of US-Iran nuclear talks.
Iran said nuclear talks with the US on Thursday progressed “very intensely and very seriously,” after they paused negotiations until early evening in Switzerland.
With days to go until President Donald Trump’s deadline for a deal, the two countries started their third round of Omani-mediated discussions in Geneva. Trump has threatened to strike Tehran unless its leaders agree to an accord, sparking fears of a new Middle East war embroiling Gulf Arab oil producers and Israel.
“We hope that going forward the discussion will focus on lifting sanctions and the nuclear issue,” Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Iranian state TV on the sidelines of the meeting. Baghaei added that diplomats will reconvene for the talks between 5:30 and 6 p.m. local time.
The US team is led by Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is heading the talks for Iran.
Iranian state media said parts of the talks were conducted directly, suggesting the lead delegates met instead of dealing only via Omani officials. Iran stated it won’t allow any of its highly enriched uranium to be moved out the country, Press TV said, citing Baghaei.
US officials are yet to comment publicly, though have previously signaled Iran would have to send such stocks of uranium to another country or dilute them.
The US and Iran have been locked in a tense standoff over the Islamic Republic’s atomic activities and have traded threats as Trump has ordered a substantial military build-up in the Middle East, sending two carrier strike groups to the region as a warning to Iran. Trump had given the Islamic Republic a deadline of March 1-6 to reach a deal.
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