{"id":6398,"date":"2025-05-11T13:37:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-11T20:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/?p=6398"},"modified":"2025-05-11T16:54:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-11T23:54:02","slug":"iran-says-fourth-round-of-difficult-nuclear-talks-with-us-ends-in-oman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/?p=6398","title":{"rendered":"Iran says fourth round of \u2018difficult\u2019 nuclear talks with US ends in Oman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tehran, Iran \u2013 <\/strong>A fourth round of indirect nuclear talks between Iran and the United States has concluded in the Omani capital, Muscat, with Iran\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs describing them as \u201cdifficult but useful\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After about three hours of negotiations on Sunday, spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei described the talks as \u201cdifficult but useful talks to better understand each other\u2019s positions and to find reasonable and realistic ways to address the differences\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNext round will be coordinated and announced by Oman,\u201d he said in a post on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the talks started, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state media that Iran has a legal right to civilian enrichment of uranium that cannot be subjected to any deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal, from which US President Donald Trump withdrew during his first term, allowed Iran to pursue its civilian nuclear activity but put restrictions on uranium enrichment to prevent Tehran from making a nuclear bomb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEnrichment is one of the achievements and honours of the Iranian nation. We have paid a heavy price for enrichment. The blood of our nuclear scientists has been spilled for this achievement,\u201d he said in reference to scientists assassinated by Israel over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Araghchi said Tehran remains committed to providing verifiable assurances that it will not be able to develop a nuclear bomb, which has been Trump\u2019s main demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Araghchi visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar and met with senior officials to coordinate in the run-up to the latest nuclear talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Omani capital on Sunday, Iran\u2019s top diplomat was accompanied by his deputies and other members of the team tasked with technical talks that Iran still emphasises are held \u201cindirectly\u201d through Omani mediation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tehran has also repeatedly expressed concern over \u201ccontradictory\u201d remarks made to the media by US negotiators, who are led by Trump\u2019s longtime friend and envoy Steve Witkoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the lead-up to the Muscat talks, Witkoff again called for the complete \u201cdismantlement\u201d of Iran\u2019s nuclear programme, including key sites in Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top officials have suggested Iran must import enriched uranium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth round of the talks was scheduled for early May but was postponed as Oman cited \u201clogistical reasons\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The delay came after the US did not confirm its participation and amid a string of major fires in several Iranian cities, including one caused by an explosion in the port city of Bandar Abbas that killed dozens of people and injured more than 1,200.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump sacked National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, an Iran hawk, this month after Waltz reportedly coordinated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and advocated for war with Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump, his team and Israel have repeatedly threatened to launch devastating military strikes on Iran and its infrastructure if the talks fail to produce results soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the US has continued to pile sanctions on Iran with the Treasury Department blacklisting a Chinese chemical group and three port terminal operators on Thursday in an attempt to target Iranian oil exports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid its \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d push against Iran, the US has also promised to drive Iranian oil exports to \u201czero\u201d as Tehran has continued to ship its oil \u2013 mainly to China \u2013 despite the sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump started the sanctions campaign in 2018 after unilaterally reneging on the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that put verifiable and stringent limits on Iran\u2019s nuclear capabilities in exchange for lifting sanctions on the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The accord restricted Iran\u2019s enrichment of uranium to 3.67 percent using first-generation centrifuges at limited sites, but it had time limits and sunset clauses that Trump claimed made it the \u201cworst deal ever\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran is currently enriching up to 60 percent, which is close to the more than 90 percent required to make a nuclear bomb, but the International Atomic Energy Agency said Tehran has made no effort to produce a weapon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source:\u00a0Al Jazeera<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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