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US envoy Steve Witkov and top Iranian diplomats have begun second round talks as the Trump administration presses the Islamic Republic to agree to a contract to reverse nuclear progress.
Saturday’s negotiations in Rome between Witkov and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragut will be important to end the long-standing standoff between Washington and Tehran.
According to Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Oman brokered longtime enemies at the residence of a Roman ambassador, where two delegations held discussions in separate rooms.
Following indirect talks in Oman last weekend, the first talks between the Trump administration and the Republic, both the US and Iran described the discussion as positive and constructive. But this week, US officials gave a mixed signal about President Donald Trump’s hopes Iran would agree.
Witkov suggested earlier in the week that the US would be willing to allow Tehran to continue to enrich uranium at low levels. But the next day he said Iran “must stop and eliminate” its nuclear enrichment program to ensure its deal with Trump.
That would be a red line for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, who argues that Tehran has the right to enrich uranium under the International Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Araguc said in his Roman speech that Iran was “completely serious” and would not change its position. He urged the US to show “consistency” in messaging.
“We are receiving contradictory signals from the United States,” he told Iranian reporters on Friday. “For us, what is said at the negotiation table is the norm,” he added, “We have made our attitude clear and clear in response to our position that is not acceptable to us.”
Iran has expanded its enrichment program since Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2015 in his first term.
Under that contract, Iran agreed to strict restrictions on its nuclear activities, including enriching uranium to a purity of less than 3.67% in return for sanctions relief.
However, Iran has enriched uranium at up to 60% purity in the last four years, and has the ability to produce enough fission material needed for nuclear bombs within a few weeks.
The US Intelligence Report Community’s annual threat assessment report last month said, “Iran has not built nuclear weapons and Khamenei has not reauthorized the nuclear weapons programme that was suspended in 2003.”
Trump has argued that he wants to resolve the crisis diplomatically, but warned that if Iran does not agree to the deal, the US would take military action alongside Israel and potentially Israel. The US deployed additional troops in the region in recent weeks, including a second aircraft carrier and a bomber.
Iran has pledged to retaliate against any attack.
On National Army Day on Friday, Iran exhibited the Russian-made S-300 air defense system. Israel claimed that it destroyed much of Iran’s air defense in October last year with a wave of air attacks. State media reported that the system, known as the Iranian Bavar-373, is a “upgraded” version that is being rebuilt by Iranian engineers.
