The fifth round of indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States will take place on May 23, according to Oman\u2019s foreign minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials from Iran and the United States will hold another\u00a0round of talks\u00a0in Rome on Friday, Oman\u2019s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi has said, despite the growing gap between the two countries over uranium enrichment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wednesday\u2019s confirmation that the nuclear negotiations would continue comes after days of Washington and Tehran expressing irreconcilable positions on Iranian uranium enrichment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US officials have said they want Iran not just to scale back its nuclear programme, but also to stop enriching uranium altogether \u2014 a position that Tehran has said is a nonstarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Enrichment is the process of altering the uranium atom to create nuclear fuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran\u2019s supreme leader, Ayatollah\u00a0Ali Khamenei, also said on Tuesday that his country does not need US permission to enrich uranium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSaying things like \u2018We will not allow Iran to enrich uranium\u2019 is nonsense,\u201d he was quoted as saying by the Mehr News Agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His statement was in response to the US\u2019s lead negotiator, Steve Witkoff, dubbing uranium enrichment a \u201cred line\u201d and saying that Washington \u201ccannot allow even 1 percent of an enrichment capability\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several Iranian and US officials have reiterated their respective countries\u2019 positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Washington has said Iran can operate nuclear reactors for energy production by importing already enriched uranium, arguing that the domestic uranium production by Tehran risks potential weaponisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran, which denies seeking a nuclear weapon, says uranium enrichment for civilian purposes is its right as a sovereign nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israel, the top US ally in the Middle East, is widely believed to have an undeclared nuclear arsenal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened Iran with military action if the two countries do not reach a deal, stressing that he will not allow Tehran to obtain a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his first term, in 2018, Trump nixed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which saw Iran scale back its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against its economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since then, the US has been piling sanctions on the Iranian economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After his return to the White House for a second term in January, Trump renewed his \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d programme\u00a0against Iran, largely through economic penalties. He has, for example, pledged to choke off the country\u2019s oil exports, particularly to China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran has been defiant in the face of Trump\u2019s threats, promising to defend itself against any attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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