The and on Saturday began a second round of which the US and other Western countries fear is aimed at developing nuclear weapons, despite Tehran’s protestations to the contrary.
The Oman-mediated talks in Rome come a week after the two sides held talks in Muscat
The negotiations are taking place against a , with US President having previously if talks fail to bring results.
Trump struck a less hostile tone on Friday, saying, “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon.”
“I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific,” he added.
What is the situation with Iran’s nuclear program?
The two rounds of negotiations so far involving US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are the highest-level discussions between the two sides since Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear deal in 2018.
The US withdrawal from the deal, which stipulated curbs on Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions on Iran, provoked the eventual collapse of the agreement.
Iran complied with the terms of the deal for a year after the US pullout but then commenced enriching uranium beyond the limits that had been agreed upon under the deal Trump scrapped.
It is now enriching uranium to 60% purity — far above the 3.67% limit in the deal but still below the 90% required for weapons-grade material.
In an interview published on Wednesday by French newspaper Le Monde, the head of the UN’s , Rafael Grossi, said Iran was “not far” from possessing a nuclear bomb.
Conflicting demands
Witkoff, who previously demanded only that Iran return to the limit set by the 2015 deal, has since called for a complete halt to enrichment, something Araghchi has refused to accept.
Although the US and Iran are also at loggerheads over the Iranian missile program and Tehran’s support for militant groups that oppose Israel, Iranian officials have insisted that the talks focus only on Iran’s nuclear program and lifting of sanctions.
Araghchi has said a deal with the US is “likely” if Washington refrains from “making unreasonable and unrealistic demands,” without elaborating.
He has expressed openness to concessions regarding the nuclear program and the level of uranium enrichment, while demanding the lifting of US sanctions.
“Although we have serious doubts about the intentions and motivations of the American side, in any case, we will participate in tomorrow’s (Saturday’s) negotiations,” he said on Friday at a press conference in Moscow.
Iran has always insisted on its right to a nuclear program, saying it is for civilian purposes only.
Edited by: Sean Sinico
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