[🇮🇷] Iran & the USA Relationship

[Saif]

Iran rejects Trump call for direct nuclear talks

Iran’s top diplomat has dismissed direct negotiations with the United States as pointless, his office said Sunday, after US president Donald Trump said he preferred face-to-face talks over its nuclear programme...

www.newagebd.net

Iran rejects Trump call for direct nuclear talks
Agence France-Presse . Tehran 06 April, 2025, 22:33

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi. | AFP photo

Iran’s top diplomat has dismissed direct negotiations with the United States as pointless, his office said Sunday, after US president Donald Trump said he preferred face-to-face talks over its nuclear programme.

Trump sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last month calling for negotiations but warning of military action if diplomacy failed.

On Thursday, the US president said he favoured ‘direct talks’, arguing they were ‘faster’ and offered a better understanding than going through intermediaries.

But Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said direct talks made no sense with a country ‘that constantly threatens to resort to force in violation of the UN Charter and that expresses contradictory positions from its various officials’.

‘We remain committed to diplomacy and are ready to try the path of indirect negotiations,’ he was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his ministry.

‘Iran keeps itself prepared for all possible or probable events, and just as it is serious in diplomacy and negotiations, it will also be decisive and serious in defending its national interests and sovereignty.’

On Saturday, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said his country was willing to engage in dialogue with the United States on an ‘equal footing’.

He also questioned Washington’s sincerity in calling for negotiations, saying ‘if you want negotiations, then what is the point of threatening?’

Iran and the United States have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution with some regional countries like Oman playing a mediating role between the two sides.

Trump’s letter was delivered to Iran via the United Arab Emirates, and Tehran responded at the end of March via the Sultanate of Oman.

On Sunday, the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, General Mohammad Bagheri, said Iran’s response stressed that ‘we seek peace in the region’.

‘We are not the ones who start wars, but we will respond to any threat with all our might,’ he said of the content of Iran’s response.

Western countries, led by the United States, have for decades accused Tehran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Iran rejects the allegation and maintains that its nuclear activities exist solely for civilian purposes.

In 2015, Iran reached a landmark deal with the permanent members of the UN Security Council, namely the United States, France, China, Russia, and the United Kingdom, as well as Germany, to limit its nuclear activities.

The 2015 agreement — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme to guarantee that Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon.

In 2018, during Trump’s first term in office, the United States withdrew from the agreement and reinstated biting sanctions on Iran.

A year later, Iran began rolling back on its commitments under the agreement and accelerated its nuclear programme.

On Monday, Ali Larijani, a close adviser to Khamenei, warned that while Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons, it would ‘have no choice but to do so’ in the event of an attack against it.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/world/news/trump-announces-direct-nuclear-talks-iran-3866121

Trump announces direct nuclear talks with Iran

Donald Trump answers a reporters question during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin in the Oval Office of the White House on April 7, 2025 in Washington, DC. Photo: AFP

President Donald Trump said the United States was starting direct, high-level talks with Iran over its nuclear program on Saturday, in a shock announcement during a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking Monday in the Oval Office, Trump said he was hopeful of reaching a deal with Tehran, but warned that the Islamic republic would be in "great danger" if the talks failed.

Hours later Tehran confirmed discussions were set for Saturday in Oman, but stressed they were "indirect" talks.

"Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on social media platform X.

"It is as much an opportunity as it is a test," he added. "The ball is in America's court."

Netanyahu meanwhile said the United States and Israel were working on another deal to free hostages from war-torn Gaza, where a ceasefire between Israel and Iran's ally Hamas has collapsed.

"We're dealing with the Iranians, we have a very big meeting on Saturday and we're dealing with them directly," Trump told reporters after a meeting that was meant to focus on Israel's bid to avoid US tariffs.

Trump did not say where the talks would take place, but insisted they would not involve surrogates and would be at "almost the highest level."

Trump's stunning announcement came a day after Iran dismissed direct negotiations on a new deal to curb the country's nuclear program, calling the idea pointless.

The US president pulled out of the last deal in 2018, during his first presidency, and there has been widespread speculation that Israel, possibly with US help, might attack Iranian facilities if no new agreement is reached.

Trump issued a stern warning to Tehran, however.

"I think if the talks aren't successful with Iran, I think Iran's going to be in great danger, and I hate to say it, great danger, because they can't have a nuclear weapon," he said.

Meanwhile officials said that Russia, China and Iran were due to hold consultations on the Iranian nuclear issue on Tuesday in Moscow.

Trump's revelation came as Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to personally plead for a reprieve from stinging US tariffs that have shaken the world.

The Israeli premier pledged to eliminate the trade deficit between the two countries and also knock down trade "barriers."

His country moved to lift its last remaining tariffs on US imports ahead of the meeting.

- Gaza talks -

Netanyahu and Trump also discussed Gaza, where a short-lived, US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas has collapsed.

Netanyahu said new negotiations were in the works aimed at freeing more hostages taken by Hamas during its unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which ignited the war.

"We're working now on another deal that we hope will succeed, and we're committed to getting all the hostages out," he said.

Trump also doubled down on his plan for the United States to "control" the Gaza Strip, which he described as a "great piece of real estate." He initially announced that plan when Netanyahu last visited him in February.

Earlier, Trump greeted Netanyahu outside the West Wing and pumped his fist, before the two leaders went inside for a meeting in the Oval Office.

Their planned press conference was canceled at short notice without explanation -- an unusual move. But they spoke to a smaller group of pool reporters at length in the Oval Office.

The Israeli premier's visit is his second to Washington since Trump's return to power, and comes at short notice -- just days after the president slapped a 17 percent tariff on Israel in his "Liberation Day" announcement last week.

Trump refused to exempt the top beneficiary of US military aid from his global tariff salvo as he said Washington had a significant trade deficit with Israel.

Netanyahu met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Sunday soon after his arrival, according to his office.

The Israeli premier also met Trump's special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday.​

 

[Saif]

Iran says deal can be reached if US shows goodwill

Iran’s top diplomat said on Tuesday he believed a new nuclear deal could be agreed with the United States provided Tehran’s long-time foe shows sufficient goodwill in talks to begin in Oman on Saturday...

www.newagebd.net

Iran says deal can be reached if US shows goodwill
Agence France-Presse . Tehran 08 April, 2025, 22:38

Iran’s top diplomat said on Tuesday he believed a new nuclear deal could be agreed with the United States provided Tehran’s long-time foe shows sufficient goodwill in talks to begin in Oman on Saturday.

Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran’s principal aim remained the lifting of sweeping US sanctions. Their reimposition by President Donald Trump in 2018 has dealt a heavy blow to the Iranian economy.

Trump made the surprise announcement that his administration would open talks with Iran during a White House meeting on Monday with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country is an arch foe of Tehran.

Trump said the talks would be ‘direct’ but Araghchi insisted his negotiations with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday would be ‘indirect’.

‘We will not accept any other form of negotiation,’ Araghchi told official media. ‘The format of the negotiations is not the most important thing in my view. What really counts is the effectiveness or otherwise of the talks.

‘If the other side shows enough of the necessary willingess, a deal can be found. The ball is in America’s court.’

Speaking Monday in the Oval Office, Trump said he was hopeful of reaching a deal with Tehran, but warned that the Islamic republic would be in ‘great danger’ if the talks failed.

‘We’re dealing with the Iranians, we have a very big meeting on Saturday and we’re dealing with them directly,’ Trump told reporters.

Trump’s announcement came after Iran dismissed direct negotiations on a new deal to curb the country’s nuclear activities, calling the idea pointless.

The US president pulled out of the last deal in 2018, during his first presidency, and there has been widespread speculation that Israel, possibly with US help, might attack Iranian facilities if no new agreement is reached.

Trump issued a stern warning to Tehran, however.

‘I think if the talks aren’t successful with Iran, I think Iran’s going to be in great danger, and I hate to say it, great danger, because they can’t have a nuclear weapon,’ he said.

In an interview with US network NBC late last month. Trump went further. ‘If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing,’ he said.

China and Russia held consultations with Iran in Moscow on Tuesday, after which the Kremlin welcomed the planned talks.

Key Iranian ally Russia welcomed the prospect of negotiations for a new nuclear accord to replace the deal with major powers that was unilaterally abandoned by Trump in 2018.

‘We know that certain contacts — direct and indirect — are planned in Oman. And, of course, this can only be welcomed because it can lead to de-escalation of tensions around Iran,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that Moscow ‘absolutely’ supported the initiative.

China called on the United States to ‘stop its wrong practice of using force to exert extreme pressure’ after Trump threatened Iran with bombing if it fails to agree a deal.

‘As the country that unilaterally withdrew from the comprehensive agreement on the Iran nuclear issue and caused the current situation, the United States should demonstrate political sincerity and mutual respect,’ its foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.

Washington should ‘participate in dialogue and consultation, and at the same time stop its wrong practice of using force to exert extreme pressure’, Lin added.

The Israeli prime minister, whose government has also threatened military action against Iran to prevent it developing a nuclear weapon, held talks with Witkoff as well as Trump on Monday.

Netanyahu was a bitter opponent of the 2015 agreement between Iran and Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States which Trump later abandoned.

That deal saw Iran receive relief from international sanctions in return for restrictions on its nuclear activities overseen by the UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Trump’s withdrawal from the deal was followed by an Iranian decision one year later to stop complying with its own obligations under the deal.

The result has been that Iran has built up large stocks of highly enriched uranium that leave it a short step from weapons grade.

In its latest quarterly report in February, the IAEA said Iran had an estimated 274.8 kilograms of uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent. Weapons grade is around 90 per cent.​

 

[Saif]

Witkoff and Araghchi: The men leading US-Iran nuclear talks

With no prior experience in foreign policy, he landed one of the world's biggest jobs as US President Donald Trump's special envoy to

en.prothomalo.com

Witkoff and Araghchi: The men leading US-Iran nuclear talks
AFP Dubai
Published: 10 Apr 2025, 20: 23

A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows President Masoud Pezeshkian (2nd R) and the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) chief Mohammad Eslami (R) during the "National Day of Nuclear Technology", in Tehran, on 9 April 2025. AFP

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi will be in Oman for breakthrough talks on Tehran's nuclear programme this weekend.

Here are short profiles of the two negotiators:

Witkoff: real estate to world stage

With no prior experience in foreign policy, he landed one of the world's biggest jobs as US President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, and has since led high-stakes talks on Gaza and Ukraine.

Real estate magnate Steve Witkoff first stepped into the spotlight when his close friend Trump credited him with sealing a truce in the Israel-Hamas war.

While the ceasefire collapsed weeks later, it did enable the release of 25 living hostages and the return of eight others' remains.

Witkoff, a 68-year-old billionaire and a regular golfing partner of Trump's, later became the first US official to visit Gaza since the war began with Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel.

He defended Trump's stunning suggestion that he wanted to "take over" the Palestinian territory and move out its two million inhabitants.

"When the president talks about cleaning it out, he talks about making it habitable, and this is a long-range plan," Witkoff told reporters at the White House.

Witkoff has also spearheaded negotiations on Ukraine, with Trump U-turning on his predecessor Joe Biden's policy on Russia.

He was in Russia to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin when a scandal erupted over a leaked Yemen air strike chat on the Signal app that involved National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and other officials.

Witkoff himself has drawn criticism from Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky over his praise for Putin and for appearing to legitimise Russia's annexation of parts of Ukraine.

In March, he was Trump's man in Saudi Arabia for talks on Ukraine, voicing optimism that any agreement struck could pave the way for a "full-on" ceasefire.

Trump has made it a foreign policy goal to end wars that Biden could not stop, meaning that the stakes could hardly be higher for Witkoff.

Ultimately, Witkoff's win in Gaza was short-lived, with US ally Israel restarting intense strikes on 18 March.

On Ukraine, the Russian president has yet to accept a long-term truce.

Born on 15 March 1957, in the New York borough of the Bronx, Witkoff made his fortune in real estate, first as a corporate lawyer and then at the head of big realty firms.

In 1997, he founded the Witkoff Group, which describes itself as "one part developer, one part investor (and) one part landscape-changer." His wife and a son work there.

Araghchi: Iran's career diplomat

A career diplomat and key architect of the 2015 nuclear accord, Araghchi will be pushing the United States to lift its punishing sanctions on Iran.

The 62-year-old, who hails from a family of carpet traders, is fluent in English and has a long career spanning multiple roles in Iran's foreign ministry.

With his crisp beard and salt-and-pepper hair, Araghchi is known for his calm demeanour. He typically wears a suit and a tie-less white mandarin-collared shirt, a standard look among Iranian diplomats.

He holds a bachelor's degree from the foreign ministry's Faculty of International Relations, a master's in political science from the Islamic Azad University, and a doctorate in political thought from the University of Kent in England.

Following the 1979 Islamic revolution, Araghchi joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

He served on the front lines during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s before joining the foreign ministry as an expert on international affairs.

Araghchi was appointed foreign minister after President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has called for reviving talks with the West, took office in July.

He was the chief negotiator at the talks that culminated in the 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers, which imposed curbs on Iran's nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) fell apart after the United States, during Donald Trump's first term, unilaterally withdrew from it and reimposed sweeping economic sanctions.

Araghchi remains a fervent supporter of the deal but said in a recent interview with Khabar Online news agency that the JCPOA "cannot be revived in its current form and text."

"Our nuclear programme has advanced significantly and we can no longer return to the conditions of the JCPOA," he said, adding that the deal "can still be a basis and a model for negotiations".​

 

[Lulldapull]

Trump sahbs offer to Iran is very simple:

1. Stop fukking around with us

2. Stop fukking around with Israel.

3. Let us dismantle your nukes right now, and your missile and drone programs or else!..we'll sell yous weapons, like we do to all the other chutiya countries.

4. Hand over you economy to us and let us run it for you like all these other chutiya colored people.

5. You are not special........just fukking drop it. Start listening to us like all these other chummpu people do.

6. We'll turn you into the next Sawdi Judea.......just listen to us.

7. Get the hell away from Russia and China........right now!

 

[Saif]

Iran seeks fair deal in US nuclear talks

Iran is seeking a ‘real and fair’ agreement with the United States on its nuclear programme, a senior aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday, setting the stage for a diplomatic showdown this weekend in Oman.

www.newagebd.net

Iran seeks fair deal in US nuclear talks
Agence France-Presse . Tehran, Iran 11 April, 2025, 22:41

File photo

Iran is seeking a ‘real and fair’ agreement with the United States on its nuclear programme, a senior aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday, setting the stage for a diplomatic showdown this weekend in Oman.

Longtime adversaries Iran and the United States are set to hold talks on Saturday aimed at reaching a deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

US president Donald Trump last month sent a letter to Khamenei urging negotiations, warning of possible military action if Iran refuses.

‘Far from putting up a show and merely talking in front of the cameras, Tehran is seeking a real and fair agreement, important and implementable proposals are ready,’ Khamenei adviser Ali Shamkhani said in a post on X.

He confirmed that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was heading to Oman ‘with full authority for indirect negotiations with America’, adding that if Washington showed goodwill, the path forward would be ‘smooth’.

In the lead-up to the talks, Trump reiterated his warning that military action was ‘absolutely’ possible if talks failed.

Iran responded by saying it could expel UN nuclear inspectors, prompting another US warning that such action would be an ‘escalation’.

Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

On Friday, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Iran was ‘giving diplomacy a genuine chance in good faith and full vigilance.’

‘America should appreciate this decision, which was made despite their hostile rhetoric,’ he said.

The talks were first announced by Trump during Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington.

While he said they would be high-level and ‘direct’, Iran has insisted they would be ‘indirect’.

Araghchi and US special envoy Steve Witkoff are due to lead the talks in Oman, which has played a mediating role on the Iran nuclear file.

Witkoff visited Russia on Friday for talks on Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an ally of Iran.

Expert-level consultations between Russia, China and Iran on nuclear issues took place in Moscow on Tuesday, according to the Russian foreign ministry.

Iran has in recent months also been talking with the three European signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal, namely France, Germany and Britain.

On Friday, Germany urged the two sides to reach a ‘diplomatic solution’, adding that it is a ‘positive development that there is a channel for dialogue between Iran and the United States’.

Ahead of the talks, the United States imposed additional sanctions on the Islamic republic targeting its oil network and nuclear programme.

Iran’s nuclear agency chief Mohammad Eslami downplayed their impact, saying: ‘They applied maximum pressure with various sanctions, but they were unable to prevent the country from progressing.’

‘They still think that they can stop this nation and country with threats and intimidation, psychological operations, or stupid actions,’ he added.

Iran has come into the spotlight since Trump returned to office, and its regional allies have in recent months suffered major setbacks.

Among them are Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, hit by staggering losses in conflicts with Israel sparked by the October 7, 2023 attack.

Since the start of the Gaza war, Iran and Israel have engaged in direct attacks for the first time in history.

Warning of military action against Iran should the talks fail, Trump said US ally Israel would ‘obviously be very much involved in that, be the leader of that’.

Khamenei’s adviser Shamkhani later warned such threats could prompt the expulsion of UN nuclear watchdog inspectors.

‘Transfer of enriched materials to secure locations may also be considered,’ he added, referring to the country’s uranium enrichment.

While the West wants to include Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its regional influence in negotiations, Tehran has maintained it will only talk about its nuclear programme.

‘If the American side does not raise irrelevant issues and demands and puts aside threats and intimidation, there is a good possibility of reaching an agreement,’ Iran’s deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said.

Hardline media in Iran voiced scepticism on the talks.

The Kayhan newspaper ran editorials warning the new sanctions showed the United States was ‘an enemy of Iran and its people’ and dismissed negotiations to lift sanctions as a ‘failed strategy.’

Reformist media outlets struck a more optimistic tone, emphasising the potential economic and investment opportunities talks could create.

During his first term, Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and reimposed sweeping economic sanctions.

Tehran adhered to the deal for a year but later began rolling back its own commitments.​

 

[Saif]

Iran, US end high-level talks in Oman, agree to resume 'next week', Tehran says

Iran and the US held talks in Oman on Saturday and agreed to reconvene next week, the Iranian side said, a dialogue meant to address Tehran's escalating nuclear programme with President Donald Trump threatening military action if there is no deal. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi posted on h

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Iran, US end high-level talks in Oman, agree to resume 'next week', Tehran says
REUTERS
Published :
Apr 12, 2025 21:31
Updated :
Apr 12, 2025 21:31

Iran and the US held talks in Oman on Saturday and agreed to reconvene next week, the Iranian side said, a dialogue meant to address Tehran's escalating nuclear programme with President Donald Trump threatening military action if there is no deal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi posted on his Telegram channel that his delegation had a brief encounter with its US counterpart, headed by Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, after they exited the indirect talks mediated by Oman.

"After the end of more than 2-1/2 hours of indirect talks, the heads of the Iranian and American delegations spoke for a few minutes in the presence of the Omani foreign minister as they left the talks," Araqchi said.

He said the talks - a first between Iran and a Trump administration, including his first term in 2017-21 - took place in a "productive and positive atmosphere".

"Both sides have agreed to continue the talks next week," Araqchi wrote, without elaborating about the venue and date.

There was no immediate US comment on the talks.

Underlining the profound rift between the US and Iran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei earlier said on X that each delegation had its separate room and would exchange messages via Oman's foreign minister.

"The current focus of the talks will be de-escalating regional tensions, prisoner exchanges and limited agreements to ease sanctions (against Iran) in exchange for controlling Iran's nuclear programme," an Omani source told Reuters. Baghaei denied this account but did not specify what was false.

Oman has long been an intermediary between Western powers and Iran, having brokered the release of several foreign citizens and dual nationals held by the Islamic Republic.

Tehran approached the talks warily, sceptical they could yield a deal and suspicious of Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to bomb Iran if it does not halt its accelerating uranium enrichment programme - regarded by the West as a possible pathway to nuclear weapons.

While each side has talked up the chances of some progress, they remain far apart on a dispute that has rumbled on for more than two decades. Iran has long denied seeking nuclear weapons capability, but Western countries and Israel believe it is covertly trying to develop the means to build an atomic bomb.

Saturday's exchanges appeared indirect, as Iran had wanted, rather than face-to-face, as Trump had demanded.

"This is a beginning. So it is normal at this stage for the two sides to present to each other their fundamental positions through the Omani intermediary," Baghaei said.

Signs of progress could help cool tensions in a region aflame since 2023 with wars in Gaza and Lebanon, missile fire between Iran and Israel, Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping and the overthrow of the government in Syria.

HIGH STAKES

However, failure would aggravate fears of a wider conflagration across a region that exports much of the world's oil. Tehran has cautioned neighbouring countries that have US bases that they would face "severe consequences" if they were involved in any US military attack on Iran.

"There is a chance for initial understanding on further negotiations if the other party (US) enters the talks with an equal stance," Araqchi told Iranian TV.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on key state matters, has given Araqchi "full authority" for the talks, an Iranian official told Reuters.

Iran has ruled out negotiating its defence capabilities such as its ballistic missile programme.

Western nations say Iran's enrichment of uranium, a nuclear fuel source, has gone far beyond the requirements of a civilian energy programme and has produced stocks at a level of fissile purity close to those required in warheads.

Trump, who has restored a "maximum pressure" campaign on Tehran since February, ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six world powers in 2018 during his first term and reimposed crippling sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Since then, Iran's nuclear programme has leaped forward, including by enriching uranium to 60% fissile purity, a technical step from the levels needed for a bomb.

Israel, Washington's closest Middle East ally, regards Iran's nuclear programme as an existential threat and has long threatened to attack Iran if diplomacy fails to curb its nuclear ambitions.

Tehran's influence throughout the Middle East has been severely weakened over the past 18 months, with its regional allies - known as the "Axis of Resistance" - either dismantled or badly damaged since the start of the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza and the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria in December.​

 

[Saif]

US in hurry for nuclear deal: Iran

The United States wants a nuclear agreement ‘as soon as possible’, Iran said after rare talks on Saturday, as US president Donald Trump threatens military action if they fail to reach a deal.

www.newagebd.net

US in hurry for nuclear deal: Iran
Agence France-Presse . Muscat, Oman 13 April, 2025, 01:20

The United States wants a nuclear agreement ‘as soon as possible’, Iran said after rare talks on Saturday, as US president Donald Trump threatens military action if they fail to reach a deal.

Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who briefly spoke face-to-face with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff during the indirect meeting in Oman, said the talks would resume next Saturday.

‘The American side also said that a positive agreement was one that can be reached as soon as possible but that will not be easy and will require a willingness on both sides,’ Araghchi told Iranian state television.

‘At today’s meeting, I think we came very close to a basis for negotiation... Neither we nor the other party want fruitless negotiations, discussions for discussions’ sake, time wasting or talks that drag on for ever,’ he added.

Oman’s foreign minister acted as intermediary in the talks in Muscat, Iran said. The Americans had called for the meetings to be face-to-face.

However, the negotiators also spoke directly for ‘a few minutes’, Iran’s foreign ministry said. It said the talks were held ‘in a constructive and mutually respectful atmosphere’.

The long-term adversaries, who have not had diplomatic relations for more than 40 years, are seeking a new nuclear deal after Trump pulled out of an earlier agreement during his first term in 2018.

Araghchi, a seasoned diplomat and key architect of the 2015 accord, and Witkoff, a real estate magnate, led the delegations in the highest-level Iran-US nuclear talks since the previous accord’s collapse.

The two parties were in ‘separate halls’ and were ‘conveying their views and positions to each other through the Omani foreign minister’, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei posted on X.

The process took place in a ‘friendly atmosphere’, Omani foreign minister Badr Albusaidi said.

Iran, weakened by Israel’s pummelling of its allies Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, is seeking relief from wide-ranging sanctions hobbling its economy.

Tehran has agreed to the meetings despite baulking at Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ campaign of ramping up sanctions and repeated military threats.

Meanwhile the US, hand-in-glove with Iran’s arch-enemy Israel, wants to stop Tehran from ever getting close to developing a nuclear bomb.

There were no visible signs of the high-level meeting at a luxury hotel in Muscat, the same venue where the 2015 agreement was struck when Barack Obama was US president.

Witkoff told The Wall Street Journal earlier that the US position starts with demanding that Iran completely dismantle its nuclear programme—a view held by hardliners around Trump that few expect Iran to accept.

‘That doesn’t mean, by the way, that at the margin we’re not going to find other ways to find compromise between the two countries,’ Witkoff told the newspaper.

‘Where our red line will be, there can’t be weaponisation of your nuclear capability,’ he added.

The talks were revealed in a surprise announcement by Trump during a White House appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

Hours before they began, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One: ‘I want Iran to be a wonderful, great, happy country. But they can’t have a nuclear weapon.’

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s adviser Ali Shamkhani said Iran was ‘seeking a real and fair agreement’.

Saturday’s meetings followed repeated threats of military action by both the US and Israel.

‘If it requires military, we’re going to have military,’ Trump said on Wednesday when asked what would happen if the talks fail.​

 

[Lulldapull]

CIA satellites have discovered a secret underground missile city in the Sudan gents built by the IRGC a decade ago........

 

[Lulldapull]

Irans getting back into the Sudan guys. Get closer to the Zionists and fukking choke the red sea completely for western and Israeli shipping:

 

[Bilal9]

CIA satellites have discovered a secret underground missile city in the Sudan gents built by the IRGC a decade ago........

What took these people a decade to find out about this installation? Wow.

 

[Lulldapull]

What took these people a decade to find out about this installation? Wow.

They just weren't looking in the right places. They thought Irans long left Sudan like a decade ago. Now with Iranian Mohajir 10 drones operating over Sudan and Ethiopia and winning, defeating UAE backed rebels all over the place, the Zionists started scanning east Africa via CIA satellites.