Iran open to ‘Genuine Chance’ at Nuclear talks with US

On Friday, Iran announced it would give high-level nuclear talks with the United States on Saturday “a genuine chance,” following President Donald Trump’s threat to order bombings if the discussions failed.

On Monday, Trump surprised many by announcing that Washington and Tehran would begin talks in Oman, a Gulf state that has previously mediated between the West and the Islamic Republic.

Trump’s return to the White House in January reignited a tougher U.S. approach toward Iran, a Middle Eastern power whose nuclear programme Israel, Washington’s key ally, views as an existential threat.

Israel has weakened Iran and its allied groups through military offensives across the region, including air strikes on Iranian targets, after Hamas attacked from Gaza in October 2023.

Iranian state media reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi would lead the talks for Iran, while U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff would represent the United States, with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi acting as the intermediary.

The Iranian foreign ministry urged the U.S. on Friday to value the Islamic Republic’s decision to engage in talks, despite what it described as Washington’s “prevailing confrontational hoopla.”

“We intend to assess the other side’s intent and resolve this Saturday,” spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei posted on X. “In earnest and with candid vigilance, we are giving diplomacy a genuine chance.”

The semi-official news agency ISNA quoted Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-e Ravanchi as saying, “There is a good possibility of reaching an accord if the American side refrains from threats and intimidation.”

He added: “We reject any bullying and coercion.”

U.S. air attacks targeted Yemen’s Houthis—an Iran-aligned group that has struck international shipping lanes in the Red Sea in support of Hamas—fueling speculation that Washington might be preparing to launch strikes against Iran.

Israel has resumed its devastating military campaign against Hamas, which Iran supports, after several weeks of truce. Meanwhile, its ceasefire with the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia remains fragile.

‘IMPORTANT AND PRACTICAL’ IRANIAN PROPOSALS:

Before Trump announced on March 30, Iran had rejected direct negotiations with Washington. Trump said, “If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing, and it will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”

Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in a post on X that Iran had prepared “important and practical” proposals in pursuit of “a real and fair” agreement.

“If Washington comes to the talks with sincere intentions and genuine will to reach an agreement, the path to a deal will be clear and smooth,” Shamkhani added.

Since Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 deal that curbed Iran’s uranium enrichment activity, deeming the accord deeply flawed, Tehran has accumulated a stockpile of uranium refined to levels close to what would suit nuclear bomb fuel.

In the deal reached during U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration, Iran agreed to strictly limit its enrichment activity in return for the lifting of global economic sanctions.

Tehran claims its program is solely for peaceful energy purposes, but the West argues it exceeds civilian needs and suspects Tehran of secretly seeking to develop nuclear weapons capability.

DIRECT-INDIRECT TALKS:

Confusion arose after Trump announced that the talks between the longtime geopolitical adversaries would be direct, while Iran insisted that they would be indirect, with Omanis acting as mediators.

Shamkhani said Araqchi was heading to neighboring Oman with “full authority” to conduct indirect talks.

During President Joe Biden’s term, the U.S. and Iran held indirect talks that ended in January but made little, if any, progress. The last known direct negotiations between the two governments took place under Obama.

Also Read

Iran’s Khamenei meets top Hamas leaders in Tehran

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, met with acting Hamas leader Khalil...