[🇮🇷] Iran & the USA Relationship

[Saif]

US has been pounding hezb, hamas hoosi and Iraqi militias for last two years and nothing has happened. Assad fell because both Russia and Iran withdrew support because he was just infiltrated by Mossad and NATO intelligence and because of his negligence Soleimani got killed along with many other IRGC commanders. So both dropped their support and he fell very quickly.

Rest of the resistance axis is doing good!

Final warning of Iranian deputy foreign minister to trump:



The US has basically surrendered to Iran in the negotiations.

Iran is being very brave. But can they survive a land attack by the US army? Iran should warn its neighbors that if any one of them let the US army use their land to launch an attack on Iran hundreds of missiles will be fired to annihilate them. Just make sure that no Iranian neighbor gives base facility to the USA. Peace.

 

[Saif]

Iran Guards say military capabilities ‘red lines’ in US talks

Trump addressed reporters on Monday regarding Iran, saying “I’ll solve that problem” and “That’s almost an easy one”.

en.prothomalo.com

Iran Guards say military capabilities ‘red lines’ in US talks
AFP Tehran
Published: 15 Apr 2025, 14: 06

A flag bearing a portrait of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah waves during the funeral on February 28, 2025 of 95 Hezbollah fighters and civilians killed in Israeli airstrikes during hostilities that lasted more than a year between Israel and Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese border town of Aitaroun AFP

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Tuesday the country’s military capabilities were off limits, ahead of a second round of talks with the United States on its nuclear programme.

“National security and defence and military power are among the red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which cannot be discussed or negotiated under any circumstances,” Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said, quoted by state broadcaster IRIB.

Iran and the United States will hold another round of talks in Muscat on Saturday, a week after top officials met in the Omani capital for the highest-level discussions since the 2015 nuclear deal collapsed.

US President Donald Trump, who withdrew the United States from the 2015 deal during his first term, has reinstated his “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran since returning to office in January.

In March, he sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for nuclear talks and warning of possible military action if Tehran refused.

Trump addressed reporters on Monday regarding Iran, saying “I’ll solve that problem” and “That’s almost an easy one”.

The US leader also threatened to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and called Iranian authorities “radicals” who should not possess nuclear weapons.

Iran has repeatedly denied seeking an atomic bomb, insisting its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, especially the provision of energy.

‘Axis of resistance’

Late Sunday, Iran’s official IRNA news agency said the country’s regional influence and its missile capabilities were among its “red lines” in the talks.

Tehran supports the “axis of resistance”—a network of militant groups opposed to Israel, including Yemen’s Huthi rebels, the Hezbollah armed group in Lebanon, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Shiite militia groups in Iraq.

On April 12, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, met with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman for “indirect” talks, according to Iranian officials and media.

The talks were the highest-level Iran-US nuclear negotiations since the collapse of the 2015 accord, formally known is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The accord offered Iran relief from international sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

Both Tehran and Washington, enemies who have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, have called the latest round of negotiations “constructive”.

Araghchi’s office has said he will travel to Moscow at the end of this week for talks with Russia, a close ally of Iran and party to the 2015 nuclear deal.

Moscow welcomed the Iran-US talks as it pushed for a diplomatic solution and warned any military confrontation would be a “global catastrophe”.​

 

[Saif]

Thanks Iran, for refusing the bomb

COL Lawrence Wilkerson was the chief of staff of the US secretary of state Gen Colin Powell. He is today among the most vocal American critics of the US-sponsored war in Ukraine, the genocide of Palestinians by Israel and the US-Israeli plans to wage war on Iran...

www.newagebd.net

Thanks Iran, for refusing the bomb
Jawed Naqvi 16 April, 2025, 00:00

COL Lawrence Wilkerson was the chief of staff of the US secretary of state Gen Colin Powell. He is today among the most vocal American critics of the US-sponsored war in Ukraine, the genocide of Palestinians by Israel and the US-Israeli plans to wage war on Iran.

Wilkerson is certain, however, as are his former military associates, that if a war does break out against Iran, it is Iran that would win. And it would win not by acquiring the nuclear bomb, or by other means that would destroy the region and its neighbourhood, but by conventional and asymmetric methods to foil American superiority.

‘I recently met the man who did the war-gaming between Iran and the US years ago. He still believes the outcome he found then remains valid — that Iran would win a conventional war against the US.’

Iran’s vast experience of fighting wars, which it is never known to have started, goes back to the 1980s when it thwarted an Iraqi assault for eight years. US-backed Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons but could not prise away an inch of Iranian territory. I walked the barely two feet-wide uneven road snaking through the totally flattened erstwhile city of Khorramshahr. A wrong step on either side of the landmine-infested zone would be fatal, as it was sadly for Reuters colleague Najmul Hasan.

The war eventually came to an end when a US warship in the Gulf apparently mistakenly shot down an Iranian Airbus, killing hundreds of civilians in 1988. Iran has since spawned a bevy of fighting groups among Arab partners, training them to defend the quest for a free Palestine. Though the Houthi government and its fighters in Yemen no longer seek help from Iran, they have been readied to confront the might of powerful coalitions as they did against the Saudi-led war machinery. Like Iran, they remain sworn to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza come what may.

So how is Iran prepared to counter Donald Trump’s threats?

Trump says he would bomb Iran as never before if Tehran doesn’t strip itself of all its missiles, not just forsake nuclear weapons forever. Iran says the threat won’t work, but level-headed diplomacy could. The first round of indirect talks between Iran and the US ended on a positive note in Oman on Saturday. And there is distinct relief after many tense days that war may not be an option for Trump. Which implies that Benjamin Netanyahu would be left to fend for himself against the rising chorus of protests targeting him in Israel.

This reminds one of the four slogans Iranian worshippers raised during Friday prayers at Tehran University in the 1980s. As parliament speaker Hashemi Rafsanjani, Kalashnikov in left hand, signalled in between his religio-political sermon, the crowd chanted death to America, Israel, USSR and Saddam Hussein, probably in that order. Two of those wishes have been fulfilled. And the two remaining quarries are struggling to keep their democratic façade intact, and their restive people in check against heavy odds.

What made Col Wilkerson exude trust in Iran’s victory in a war with the US? He did so without the usual references to Vietnam and Afghanistan, where the US military suffered humiliating defeats. Wilkerson was talking about the outcome of US war games, which simulated conflict with Iran, particularly the Millennium Challenge 2002. The computerised outcome of MC02 revealed significant vulnerabilities in American military strategy and highlighted the effectiveness of asymmetric tactics. Iran was made the Red Team and the US was assigned the Blue Team.

Iran’s Red Team was led by retired Marine Lt-Gen Paul Van Riper. He employed unconventional tactics to devastating effect. Using motorcycle messengers, coded signals via mosque loudspeakers, and swarms of small boats armed with missiles, Red launched a surprise attack that overwhelmed the Blue Team.

A massive cruise missile salvo sank 16 US warships, including an aircraft carrier, and decimated amphibious forces, theoretically killing over 20,000 personnel. The simulated attack exploited gaps in Blue’s reliance on advanced technology and rigid command structures.

Interestingly, following the Red Team’s apparent success, the Pentagon suspended the exercise, ‘re-floated’ destroyed Blue forces, and imposed restrictions on Red’s tactics. Red was ordered to reveal anti-aircraft radar positions, avoid targeting paratroopers, and adhere to a script ensuring Blue’s eventual victory.

Van Riper criticised this as a betrayal of the exercise’s purpose. He resigned in protest. Critics say the $250 million mock war was turned into a scripted validation of existing US doctrines rather than a genuine test of the strengths of both sides.

Nowhere in the war games was the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran factored in. The unsung credit for this goes to Iran’s relentlessly demonised leadership, which staunchly opposes the making of a nuclear bomb. Ayatollah Khamenei would probably not accept any temporal award, let alone the Nobel Peace Prize should it be offered. This was not only because too many questionable people have been given the prize, belittling its importance, not least its Zionist racist recipients.

Seen objectively, one of the greatest and least acknowledged acts for global peace has come from the Islamic Republic of Iran. It has the capacity to build the nuclear bomb, but its revered leader will not allow that crucial half-screwdriver-turn even if the decision brings devastation to his people.

The moral spine of Iran and its supreme leaders, in particular, actually deserves a resounding applause. Khamenei’s 2003 fatwa against assembling a weapon of mass destruction has played an unsung role in keeping the world from untold harm.

There is enormous pressure on Khamenei from his countrymen to let Iran make the bomb. It was the only way to rein in Israel and thwart frequent challenges from US presidents, it’s been argued. But Khamenei has remained loyal to his innate wisdom that the bomb is an immoral device. For that he deserves our gratitude.

Dawn.com, April 15. Jawed Naqvi is Dawn’s correspondent in Delhi.​

 

[Saif]

Enrichment of uranium non-negotiable, says Iran FM

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday that Iran’s enrichment of uranium as part of its nuclear programme was ‘non-negotiable’ after US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff called for a halt...

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Enrichment of uranium non-negotiable, says Iran FM
Trump envoy urged halt

Agence France-Presse . Tehran 16 April, 2025, 21:41

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi | AFP file photo

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday that Iran’s enrichment of uranium as part of its nuclear programme was ‘non-negotiable’ after US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff called 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,’ Araghchi told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

The remarks came as Araghchi and Witkoff are due to meet again in Oman on Saturday, a week after they held the highest-level talks between the longtime foes since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear deal in 2018.

Trump reimposed sweeping sanctions in a policy of ‘maximum pressure’ against Tehran that he has reinstated since returning to office in January.

In March, he sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging talks but warning of possible military action if they fail to produce a deal.

Both sides described Saturday’s meeting as ‘constructive’.

But on Tuesday, Witkoff said Iran must ‘stop and eliminate’ its enrichment of uranium as part of any nuclear deal.

He had previously demanded only that Iran return to the 3.67 per cent enrichment ceiling set by the 2015 accord between Iran and major powers that Trump withdrew from.

Araghchi condemned what he called the ‘contradictory and conflicting positions’ coming out of the Trump administration ahead of Saturday’s talks.

‘We will find out the true opinions of the Americans during the negotiation session,’ he said.

Iran’s top diplomat said he hoped to start negotiations on the framework of a possible agreement but said 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.

Araghchi is set to head to Iranian ally Russia on Thursday, Iran’s ambassador in Moscow Kazem Jalili said.

Iran has said the visit was ‘pre-planned’ but will include 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, Araghchi said.

In readiness for the US talks, Iran has engaged with Russia and China, which were both parties to the 2015 deal.

Ahead of Saturday’s second round of talks in Muscat, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said he hoped a deal could be reached with the United States, the official IRNA news agency reported.

On Tuesday, Khamenei cautioned that while the talks have proceeded well in their early stages, they could still prove fruitless.

‘The negotiations may or may not yield results,’ he said, noting that Iran had already outlined its ‘red lines’.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have said the country’s military capabilities are off-limits in the talks.

Late on Sunday, IRNA said Iran’s regional influence and its missile capabilities — both sources of concern for Western governments — were also among its ‘red lines’.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi was due in Iran later Wednesday for talks with senior officials.

The UN watchdog was tasked with overseeing Iran’s compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal.

In its latest report, the IAEA said Iran had an estimated 274.8 kilograms of uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent.

That level far exceeds the the 3.67 per cent ceiling set by the 2015 deal but still falls short of the 90 per cent threshold required for a nuclear warhead.​

 

[Saif]

Iran says nuclear deal is possible if Washington is realistic

Iran believes reaching an agreement on its nuclear programme with the United States is possible as long as Washington is realistic, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday on the eve of a second round of talks with the Trump administration. "If they demonstrate seriousness of intent and do n

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Iran says nuclear deal is possible if Washington is realistic
REUTERS
Published :
Apr 18, 2025 21:21
Updated :
Apr 18, 2025 21:21

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a press conference following a meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2025. Photo : Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool via REUTERS

Iran believes reaching an agreement on its nuclear programme with the United States is possible as long as Washington is realistic, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday on the eve of a second round of talks with the Trump administration.

"If they demonstrate seriousness of intent and do not make unrealistic demands, reaching agreements is possible," Araqchi told a news conference in Moscow after talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of Russia.

Iran had noted the United States' seriousness during a first round of talks on the deal, which took place in Oman last week, Araqchi said. The second round is set for Saturday in Rome.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to attack Iran if it does not agree a deal with the United States over its nuclear programme, which Iran says is peaceful but the West says is aimed at building an atomic bomb.

Lavrov said that Russia was "ready to assist, mediate, and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.".

Moscow has played a role in Iran's nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei sent Araqchi to Moscow with a letter for President Vladimir Putin to brief the Kremlin about the negotiations.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier on Friday that the US administration is looking for a peaceful solution with Iran but will never tolerate the country developing a nuclear weapon.

US President Donald Trump will walk away from trying to broker peace in Ukraine within days unless there are signs of progress, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday.​

 

[Saif]

Iran, US hold talks in Rome in bid to reach nuclear deal

Iran and the United States started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran's atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump's threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Trump's

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Iran, US hold talks in Rome in bid to reach nuclear deal
REUTERS
Published :
Apr 19, 2025 19:02
Updated :
Apr 19, 2025 20:21

Omani embassy, Rome, April 19, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Vincenzo Livieri

Iran and the United States started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran's atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump's threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will negotiate indirectly through an Omani official who will shuttle messages between the two sides, Iranian officials said, a week after a first round of indirect talks in Muscat that both sides described as constructive.

Araqchi and Witkoff interacted briefly at the end of the first round, but officials from the two countries have not held direct negotiations since 2015 under former U.S. President Barack Obama.

Araqchi, in a meeting with his Italian counterpart ahead of the talks, said Iran had always been committed to diplomacy and called on "all parties involved in the talks to seize the opportunity to reach a reasonable and logical nuclear deal".

"Such an agreement should respect Iran's legitimate rights and lead to the lifting of unjust sanctions on the country while addressing any doubts about its nuclear work," Araqchi was quoted as saying by Iranian state media.

He said in Moscow on Friday that Iran believes reaching an agreement on its nuclear programme with the U.S. is possible as long as Washington is realistic.

"Rome becomes the capital of peace and dialogue," Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wrote on X. "I encouraged (Araqchi) to follow the path of negotiation against nuclear arms. The hope of the Italian government is that all together may find a positive solution for the Middle East."

Tehran has however sought to tamp down expectations of a quick deal, after some Iranian officials speculated that sanctions could be lifted soon. Iran's utmost authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said this week he was "neither overly optimistic nor pessimistic".

For his part, Trump told reporters on Friday: "I'm for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can't have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific."

Meanwhile, Israel has not ruled out an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.

Trump, who ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six powers during his first term in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Tehran, has revived his "maximum pressure" campaign on the country since returning to the White House in January.

Washington wants Iran to halt production of highly enriched uranium, which it believes is aimed at building an atomic bomb.

Tehran, which has always maintained its nuclear programme is peaceful, says it is willing to negotiate some curbs in return for the lifting of sanctions, but wants watertight guarantees that Washington will not renege again.

Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal's limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy programme.

A senior Iranian official, who described Iran's negotiating position on condition of anonymity, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.

Iran also rejects negotiating about defence capabilities such as its ballistic missile program and the range of Tehran's domestically-produced missiles.

Russia, a party to Iran's 2015 nuclear agreement, has offered "to assist, mediate, and play any role" that will be beneficial to Iran and the US.​

 

[Saif]

US, Iran report progress in nuclear talks, will meet again

The United States and Iran made progress in a second round of high-stakes talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme on Saturday and agreed to meet again next week, both sides said.

www.newagebd.net

US, Iran report progress in nuclear talks, will meet again
Agence France-Presse . Rome 20 April, 2025, 23:12

File photo

The United States and Iran made progress in a second round of high-stakes talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme on Saturday and agreed to meet again next week, both sides said.

The Oman-mediated talks in Rome lasted about four hours, Iranian state television and a senior US official said. Tehran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi declared it a ‘good meeting’ that yielded progress.

‘This time we managed to reach a better understanding on a series of principles and goals,’ he told Iranian state TV.

The senior US official said in a statement, ‘Today, in Rome over four hours in our second round of talks, we made very good progress in our direct and indirect discussions.’

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the parties ‘agreed to resume indirect talks at a technical level over the next few days and subsequently continue at the level of two senior negotiators next Saturday’, April 26.

The US official confirmed another meeting next week but did not specify which day or where.

Oman said the third round would be in Muscat, returning to the site of the first talks a week ago.

Those were the first discussions at such a high level between the foes since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear accord in 2018.

Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons — an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes.

After Saturday’s talks, Oman’s foreign ministry said Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had agreed to keep negotiating.

The talks, it said, ‘aim to seal a fair, enduring and binding deal which will ensure Iran (is) completely free of nuclear weapons and sanctions, and maintaining its ability to develop peaceful nuclear energy’.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said the talks were ‘gaining momentum and now even the unlikely is possible’.

Baqaei said the delegations had been ‘in two different rooms’ at the Omani ambassador’s residence, with Albusaidi passing messages between them.

Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

After returning to office in January, Trump revived his ‘maximum pressure’ campaign of sanctions against Iran.

In March he wrote to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging renewed nuclear talks while also warning of military action if diplomacy failed.

‘I’m not in a rush’ to use the military option, Trump said Thursday. ‘I think Iran wants to talk.’

On Friday, Araghchi said Iran ‘observed a degree of seriousness’ on the US side during the first round but questioned their ‘intentions and motivations’.

‘Crucial stage’ -

In an interview published Wednesday by French newspaper Le Monde, the United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Iran was ‘not far’ from possessing a nuclear bomb, noting a day later that talks were ‘at a very crucial stage’.

During Trump’s first term, Washington withdrew from the 2015 accord between Tehran and world powers that offered Iran relief from international sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

Tehran complied with the agreement for a year after Trump’s withdrawal before scaling back its compliance.

Araghchi was a negotiator of the 2015 deal. His US counterpart, Witkoff, is a real estate magnate Trump has also tasked with talks on Ukraine.

Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 percent limit in the deal but still below the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged European countries to decide whether to trigger the ‘snapback’ mechanism under the 2015 agreement, which would automatically reinstate UN sanctions on Iran over its non-compliance.

The option to trigger the mechanism expires in October.

Iran has previously warned it could withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the mechanism were triggered.

‘Non-negotiable’ -

Analysts had said the United States would push to include discussions over Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its support for militants in the Middle East.

But Araghchi said Saturday the US side had ‘not raised any issues unrelated to the nuclear topic so far’.

He said earlier this week Iran’s right to enrich uranium was ‘non-negotiable’, after Witkoff called for its complete halt. Witkoff had previously demanded only that Iran return to the ceiling set by the 2015 deal.

On Friday US ally Israel affirmed its commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, saying it had a ‘clear course of action’ to do so — a stance Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Saturday.

‘I will not give up on this, I will not let go of it, and I will not retreat from it — not even by a millimetre,’ he said.​

 

[Saif]

Iran slams ‘hostile’ US sanctions ahead of new talks

Iran’s foreign ministry on Wednesday condemned new US sanctions targeting its oil network, calling the move a sign of Washington’s ‘hostile approach’ ahead of a third round of nuclear talks...

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Iran slams ‘hostile’ US sanctions ahead of new talks
Agence France-Presse . Tehran 23 April, 2025, 21:41

Iran’s foreign ministry on Wednesday condemned new US sanctions targeting its oil network, calling the move a sign of Washington’s ‘hostile approach’ ahead of a third round of nuclear talks.

In a statement, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Washington’s policy of imposing sanctions on the Iranian people was a ‘clear contradiction with the United States’ demand for dialogue and negotiation and indicates America’s lack of goodwill and seriousness in this regard’.

On Tuesday, the US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on an Iranian shipping network and an individual named Asadoollah Emamjomeh, who Washington says is the network’s owner.

It said in a statement the network was ‘collectively responsible for shipping hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian LPG and crude oil to foreign markets’.

‘Emamjomeh and his network sought to export thousands of shipments of LPG — including from the United States — to evade US sanctions and generate revenue for Iran,’ said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

‘The United States remains committed to holding accountable those who seek to provide the Iranian regime with the funding it needs to further its destabilising activities in the region and around the world.’

The sanctions came after Tehran and Washington held two rounds of indirect nuclear talks on consecutive Saturdays in Muscat and Rome, starting on April 12.

Since returning to office in January, US President Donald Trump has reimposed sweeping sanctions under his policy of ‘maximum pressure’ against Tehran.

In March, he sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for talks but also warning of possible military action if they failed to produce a deal.

Oman said the third round of talks, set for Saturday, April 26, would again be held in Muscat.

On Tuesday, Iran announced that a technical expert-level nuclear meeting between the two countries will also be held on Saturday.

‘The expert and high-level indirect talks in Oman will not be held simultaneously,’ state TV reported on Wednesday.

‘Iranian and American experts will first hold their indirect talks and convey the results of the talks to the high-level officials, who will then start their discussions’ the report said.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are leading the negotiations, with Oman mediating.

After last Saturday’s Rome talks, Araghchi said the meeting was ‘good’ and that the negotiations were ‘moving forward’.

On Monday, Trump said Washington had ‘very good meetings’ on Iran.

Araghchi was in Beijing on Wednesday for talks ahead of Saturday’s meeting.

China is Iran’s largest commercial partner and the main buyer of its oil.

Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons — an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes.​

 

[Saif]

Iran proposes talks with European powers as US nuclear negotiations proceed

Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, said on Thursday he was ready to travel to France, Germany and Britain for talks, as Tehran looked to build on the momentum of nuclear negotiations, opens new tab with the United States. The three European powers, known as the E3, said in December they were

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Iran proposes talks with European powers as US nuclear negotiations proceed
REUTERS
Published :
Apr 24, 2025 20:06
Updated :
Apr 24, 2025 20:06

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a press conference following a meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2025. Photo : Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool via REUTERS/Files

Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, said on Thursday he was ready to travel to France, Germany and Britain for talks, as Tehran looked to build on the momentum of nuclear negotiations, opens new tab with the United States.

The three European powers, known as the E3, said in December they were ready to trigger a so-called snapback of all international sanctions on Iran to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Tehran has since been pressing on with talks on its nuclear programme with the administration of US President Donald Trump which, analysts and diplomats say, has not been coordinating its efforts with European nations.

"Iran's relations with the E3 ... have experienced ups and downs in recent history. Like it or not, they are currently down," Araqchi wrote on X.

"I once again propose diplomacy. After my recent consultations in Moscow & Beijing, I am ready to take the first step with visits to Paris, Berlin & London ... The ball is now in the E3's court."

Trump said on Monday the United States had very good talks with Iran, two days after the second round of negotiations on Tehran's nuclear programme. The third round of talks is to be held on Saturday in Oman.

Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

Iran, which says its nuclear programme is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday Iran will have to stop enriching uranium under any deal with the United States and could only import what is needed for a civilian nuclear programme.

Iran has said its right to enrich uranium is not negotiable. When asked about Rubio's comments, a senior Iranian official, close to Iran's negotiating team, again said on Wednesday "zero enrichment is unacceptable."

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed on Thursday to hunt down those behind the deadly militant attack in Kashmir.​

 

[Saif]

US to lead Iran attack if no nuclear deal

President Donald Trump said the United States will ‘lead the pack’ in attacking Iran if talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme do not result in a new deal, according to a Time Magazine interview.

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US to lead Iran attack if no nuclear deal
Agence France-Presse . Washington, United States 26 April, 2025, 00:04

US president Donald Trump. | File photo

President Donald Trump said the United States will ‘lead the pack’ in attacking Iran if talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme do not result in a new deal, according to a Time Magazine interview.

The US president—in the interview conducted April 22 and published Friday—nonetheless expressed hope that such a deal could be reached, while also saying he was open to meeting Iran’s supreme leader or president face-to-face.

‘It’s possible we’ll have to attack because Iran will not have a nuclear weapon,’ Trump told Time.

The renewed threat comes as Washington and Tehran continue talks over the clerical state’s nuclear program, with a third round slated for Saturday in Oman.

Both sides expressed optimism at the end of the last meeting in Rome, without providing any details.

The negotiations have thus far excluded Iran’s arch-foe Israel, though Trump on Tuesday said after a call with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that ‘we are on the same side of every issue.’

Trump, asked by Time about reports he had blocked Israel from conducting a unilateral attack against Iran, replied: ‘That’s not right.’

‘I didn’t stop them. But I didn’t make it comfortable for them, because I think we can make a deal without the attack,’ he said.

‘Ultimately I was going to leave that choice to them, but I said I would much prefer a deal than bombs being dropped.’

Trump denied that he was worried about Netanyahu dragging the United States into war with Iran, saying: ‘He may go into a war. But we’re not getting dragged in.’

However, Trump added he ‘may go in very willingly if we can’t get a deal.’

‘If we don’t make a deal, I’ll be leading the pack,’ Trump told Time.

Trump in 2018 tore up a nuclear deal with Iran negotiated under president Barack Obama and reimposed sweeping sanctions on Teheran.

Western powers and Israel, considered by experts the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East, have long accused Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons.

Iran has always denied the charge, insisting its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only.

Asked if he would be willing to meet with Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or president Masoud Pezeshkian, Trump replied: ‘Sure.’​

 

[Saif]

Iran, US resume talks in Oman to narrow gaps over new nuclear deal

Top Iranian and US negotiators began a new round of indirect talks on Saturday to hammer out a deal curbing Tehran's nuclear programme, while US President Donald Trump signalled confidence in clinching a new pact that would block Iran's path to a nuclear bomb. Experts met before Iranian Foreign Mi

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Iran, US resume talks in Oman to narrow gaps over new nuclear deal
REUTERS
Published :
Apr 26, 2025 15:33
Updated :
Apr 26, 2025 15:33

Top Iranian and US negotiators began a new round of indirect talks on Saturday to hammer out a deal curbing Tehran's nuclear programme, while US President Donald Trump signalled confidence in clinching a new pact that would block Iran's path to a nuclear bomb.

Experts met before Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was due to negotiate indirectly with Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Muscat on Saturday through Omani mediators, a week after a second round in Rome that both sides described as constructive.

Trump has spent the beginning of his second term in office trying to broker deals on some of the world's biggest conflicts and crises, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Israel's assault on Gaza and the thorny issue of Iran's nuclear programme.

The Islamic Republic, for its part, has signalled it is keen to get sanctions' relief as its economy continues to suffer, and after more than a year of military setbacks at the hands of its regional foe Israel.

Iranian state media reported on Saturday that talks had begun. "A third round of negotiations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America started in Muscat," news agency IRNA said, without giving other details.

A source close to the Iranian negotiating team said that experts from both sides met on Saturday.

Talks are set to start at expert-level, which will begin drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, ahead of an indirect meeting between the lead negotiators.

Trump, in an interview with Time magazine published on Friday, said "I think we're going to make a deal with Iran", but he repeated a threat of military action against Iran if diplomacy fails.

While both Tehran and Washington have said they are set on pursuing diplomacy, they remain far apart on a dispute that has rumbled on for more than two decades.

MAXIMUM PRESSURE

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 Iran.

Since 2019, Iran has breached the pact's nuclear curbs including "dramatically" accelerating its enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% level that is weapons grade, according to the UN nuclear watchdog.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week Iran would have to entirely stop enriching uranium under a deal, and import any enriched uranium it needed to fuel its sole functioning atomic energy plant, Bushehr.

Tehran is willing to negotiate some curbs on its nuclear work in return for the lifting of sanctions, according to Iranian officials, but ending its enrichment programme or surrendering its enriched uranium stockpile are among "Iran's red lines that could not be compromised" in the talks.

Moreover, European states have suggested to US negotiators that a comprehensive deal should include limits preventing Iran from acquiring or finalising the capacity to put a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile, several European diplomats said.

Tehran insists its defence capabilities like its missile programme are not negotiable and Tehran's clerical rulers say its missile programme poses no threat to regional countries. An Iranian official with knowledge of the talks said on Friday that Tehran sees its missile programme as a bigger obstacle in the talks.

Iran fired scores of ballistic missiles at Israel last year after Israel assassinated Iranian commanders and allied paramilitary leaders in a regional escalation sparked by the Gaza war.​

 

[Saif]

Iran says 'extremely cautious' on success of nuclear talks with US

Iran and the United States have agreed to continue nuclear talks next week, both sides said on Saturday, though Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi voiced "extreme cautious" about the success of the negotiations to resolve a decades-long standoff. US President Donald Trump has signalled confide

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Iran says 'extremely cautious' on success of nuclear talks with US
FE ONLINE DESK
Published :
Apr 27, 2025 11:20
Updated :
Apr 27, 2025 11:20

Iran and the United States have agreed to continue nuclear talks next week, both sides said on Saturday, though Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi voiced "extreme cautious" about the success of the negotiations to resolve a decades-long standoff.

US President Donald Trump has signalled confidence in clinching a new pact with the Islamic Republic that would block Tehran's path to a nuclear bomb.

Araqchi and Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held a third round of the talks in Muscat through Omani mediators for around six hours, a week after a second round in Rome that both sides described as constructive, reports Reuters.

"The negotiations are extremely serious and technical ... there are still differences, both on major issues and on details," Araqchi told Iranian state TV.

"There is seriousness and determination on both sides ... However, our optimism about success of the talks remains extremely cautious."

A senior US administration official described the talks and positive and productive, adding that both sides agreed to meet again in Europe "soon".

"There is still much to do, but further progress was made on getting to a deal," the official added.

Earlier Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi had said talks would continue next week, with another "high-level meeting" provisionally scheduled for May 3. Araqchi said Oman would announce the venue.

Ahead of the lead negotiators' meeting, expert-level indirect talks took place in Muscat to design a framework for a potential nuclear deal.

"The presence of experts was beneficial ... we will return to our capitals for further reviews to see how disagreements can be reduced," Araqchi said.

An Iranian official, briefed about the talks, told Reuters earlier that the expert-level negotiations were "difficult, complicated and serious".

The only aim of these talks, Araqchi said, was "to build confidence about the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief".

Trump, in an interview with Time magazine published on Friday, said "I think we're going to make a deal with Iran", but he repeated a threat of military action against Iran if diplomacy fails.

Shortly after Araqchi and Witkoff began their latest indirect talks on Saturday, Iranian state media reported a massive explosion at the country's Shahid Rajaee port near the southern city of Bandar Abbas, killing at least four people and injuring hundreds.

MAXIMUM PRESSURE

While both Tehran and Washington have said they are set on pursuing diplomacy, they remain far apart on a dispute that has rumbled on for more than two decades.

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 Iran.

Since 2019, Iran has breached the pact's nuclear curbs including "dramatically" accelerating its enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% level that is weapons grade, according to the UN nuclear watchdog.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week Iran would have to entirely stop enriching uranium under a deal, and import any enriched uranium it needed to fuel its sole functioning atomic energy plant, Bushehr.

Tehran is willing to negotiate some curbs on its nuclear work in return for the lifting of sanctions, according to Iranian officials, but ending its enrichment programme or surrendering its enriched uranium stockpile are among "Iran's red lines that could not be compromised" in the talks.

Moreover, European states have suggested to US negotiators that a comprehensive deal should include limits preventing Iran from acquiring or finalising the capacity to put a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile, several European diplomats said.

Tehran insists its defence capabilities like its missile programme are not negotiable.

An Iranian official with knowledge of the talks said on Friday that Tehran sees its missile programme as a bigger obstacle in the talks.​

 

[Saif]

US sanctions will not change policy: Iran

Iran said on Friday continued US sanctions on its trade partners will not alter its policy, after president Donald Trump threatened to impose penalties on countries or individuals dealing in Iranian oil.

www.newagebd.net

US sanctions will not change policy: Iran
Agence France-Presse . Tehran 02 May, 2025, 22:38

Iran said on Friday continued US sanctions on its trade partners will not alter its policy, after president Donald Trump threatened to impose penalties on countries or individuals dealing in Iranian oil.

‘The continuation of these illegal behaviours will not change Iran’s logical, legitimate and international law-based positions,’ a foreign ministry statement said, condemning what it called ‘pressure on Iran’s trade and economic partners’.

It added that such sanctions have created ‘deep suspicion and mistrust about the seriousness of America on the path of diplomacy’.

On Thursday, Trump vowed to enforce sanctions and called for a global boycott of ‘any amount’ of Iranian oil or petrochemicals.

‘All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW!’ Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

‘Any Country or person who buys ANY AMOUNT of OIL or PETROCHEMICALS from Iran will be subject to, immediately, Secondary Sanctions,’ he added.

His remarks came after Iran said a fourth round of nuclear talks with the United States, in Rome on Saturday, has been postponed, with mediator Oman citing ‘logistical reasons’ for the delay.

Oman said the date for a new round ‘will be announced when mutually agreed’.

Tehran and Washington have held three rounds of talks since April 12, the highest-level contact on Iran’s nuclear programme since Trump abandoned a nuclear accord with world powers in 2018.

The talks were held after Trump wrote to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in March urging negotiations but warning of potential military action if diplomacy failed.

Since returning to office in January, Trump has revived the ‘maximum pressure’ policy of sanctions against Iran, with the latest announced on Wednesday and targeting seven companies accused of transporting Iranian-origin petroleum products.

Tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme soared after Washington withdrew from the 2015 deal with world powers which offered Tehran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear ambitions.

Iran adhered to the agreement for a year afterwards before beginning to roll back its compliance.

Western countries have since accused Tehran of seeking atomic weapons, an allegation it has consistently denied, insisting that its nuclear programme is for peaceful civilian purposes only.​