Oman said the fifth round of Iran and US speeches will be held after both parties consulted their respective leadership.
Iranian and US officials have concluded the fourth round of talks on issues related to Iran’s nuclear program on May 11, and both sides agreed to proceed with further negotiations.
US President’s envoy Steve Witkov and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Arakich held a three-hour consultation in Muscat, Oman’s capital, which acted as a mediator of US-Iran’s nuclear negotiations.
The talks took place before President Donald Trump visited the Middle East this week. The US hopes Iran will curb its nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions imposed by the US.
Esmaeli Baghhai, a spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said recent indirect consultations are “difficult but useful” in finding “realistic ways” to understand each other’s positions and resolve differences.
A senior US official who spoke to the media on condition of anonymity said the meeting involved both indirect and direct exchanges, expressing optimism about the outcome.
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“We are encouraged by today’s outcome and look forward to the next meeting that will take place in the near future,” the official said, adding that both sides have agreed to work through “technical elements.”
Albasaidi added that the fifth round will take place after both parties consulted their respective leadership.
Before his meeting with Araqchi on May 11, Witkoff told Breitbart News that Iran must dismantle uranium enrichment facilities in Natanz, Fordaw and Isfahan to show the US that has stopped developing nuclear weapons.
“The enrichment programme will never be in the state of Iran again,” Witkov said. “It’s our red line. There’s no concentration. It means dismantling, and that doesn’t mean weaponization.”
Iran has its own red line.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Arakich described the recent consultation with Witkov as “a lot more serious and candid” than in the previous round.
However, the Iranian minister said there was “no compromise” when it came to enriching uranium, which is used to develop nuclear weapons.
“As for example, as has been done in the past, its (enriched) dimensions, scales, levels, or amounts could be subject to certain restrictions for the purposes of reliability building, but the principle of enrichment itself is simply non-negotiable,” he told state television.
Iran’s prevention of nuclear bomb development is the basis of Trump’s foreign policy. Trump unilaterally withdrew from the Obama-era joint comprehensive plan of action in 2018, calling it “one of the worst and most one-sided deals” ever negotiated by the US.
Ryan Morgan, Tom Ojimek, Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to the report.
