Iran and US engage in new cycle of nuclear talks

The U.S. and Iran began a third round of crucial negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue on Saturday in Oman, following previous exchanges described as constructive by both countries, who have been adversaries for four decades.

The discussions between the two parties, mediated by Oman, began shortly before 08:30 GMT, according to several Iranian media outlets, including state television.

They follow indirect negotiations that were previously held on April 12 in Muscat and then on April 19 in Rome.

Furthermore, Iran asserted on Saturday that its defense capabilities and ballistic missile program were not on the agenda of the ongoing talks with the United States in Oman.

“The issue of the country's defense and missile capabilities is not (on the agenda) and is not raised in the indirect negotiations with the United States,” stated the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, on state television.

Tehran and Washington have not had diplomatic relations since 1980. These talks are the first at this level since the United States withdrew in 2018, under the first presidency of Donald Trump, from an international agreement concluded three years earlier that supervised Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

A session of technical talks between experts is planned in addition to high-level negotiations, which will be conducted by the Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, and the U.S. envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, through the Omani Foreign Minister, Badr al-Busaidi, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei.

"The negotiations will focus on technical and expert-level issues on details, so we can expect them to be extended if necessary," the official Irna news agency reported on Saturday.

Mr. Araghchi had earlier posted a photo on Telegram of a meeting with his Omani counterpart, described as a "private discussion" before the talks.

The last meeting, on April 19, had been deemed "good" by both countries. "For the negotiations to progress, there needs to be a demonstration of goodwill, seriousness, and realism from the other party," Mr. Baghaei said Friday.

"Cautious optimism"

Western countries, led by the United States, and Israel suspect Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. Tehran rejects these allegations, defending a right to nuclear energy for civilian purposes, especially for power.

Abbas Araghchi thus indicated that his country plans to build 19 new reactors, according to the text of a speech he was to deliver at a conference and published Tuesday on his official X account.

In 2018, Trump withdrew his country from the nuclear agreement concluded in Vienna in 2015 and reinstated sanctions. In response, Iran progressively distanced itself from the text, notably enriching uranium to a high level.

Araghchi expressed his country's "cautious optimism" about the ongoing process this week.

Since returning to the White House, Donald Trump has relaunched his so-called "maximum pressure" policy on Iran and called in March for negotiations on a new deal while threatening to bomb the country if diplomacy fails.

In statements published Friday by Time Magazine, he assured he was ready to meet the Iranian Supreme Leader or the country's president.

Washington announced new sanctions on Tuesday targeting the Iranian oil sector. Tehran denounced a "hostile approach."

Tunnels in question

On Wednesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), responsible for monitoring Iran's nuclear program under the Vienna agreement and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), of which Iran is a party, asked Tehran to explain the presence of tunnels around the Natanz site (central Iran) that houses centrifuges used to enrich uranium.

The Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security released satellite images of this site showing, according to it, a new tunnel located near an older tunnel, as well as a new security perimeter.

Tehran has not commented on this report as yet.

Iran is currently enriching uranium at a high level (60%), below the 90% needed to make an atomic bomb, but far from the 3.67% ceiling set by the Vienna agreement.

According to Araghchi, Iran's right to enrich uranium is "non-negotiable."

The Iranian minister said Thursday he was willing to travel to Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, other parties to the Vienna agreement, for discussions on this issue.

Last week, Marco Rubio urged the Europeans to quickly decide on the reimposition of U.N. sanctions on Iran.

The 2015 agreement provides for the possibility of automatically reimposing them in the event of non-compliance with the text, but this option expires in October.

Iran has warned it could withdraw from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty if this mechanism is triggered.