Iran is currently negotiating on a “nuclear-only” basis and is confident a deal can be reached, the foreign minister said.
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Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi confirmed further talks will take place on Thursday amid rising tensions between the US and Iran.
“I am pleased to confirm that negotiations between the United States and Iran will take place in Geneva this Thursday, providing a positive boost to further progress towards reaching an agreement,” al-Busaidi said in a social media post on Sunday.
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The announcement comes as the United States continues to accumulate military assets in the Middle East and fears of an all-out war with Iran grow.
Hours before Oman’s announcement, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was ready to guarantee the peaceful nature of its nuclear program and put in place “a complete monitoring mechanism” to reduce tensions.
Asked by Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan why Iran would want to pursue its own enriched uranium rather than buying it from abroad, given the US military buildup and the risk of military escalation, Araghchi said the issue was a matter of Iranian “dignity and pride.”
“We developed this technology ourselves, by our scientists. It’s very important to us because we created it. We paid a huge amount of money for it,” he said.
Araghchi cited the targeted killing of Iranian scientists and the June attack on nuclear facilities by the United States and Israel as costs for two decades of U.S. sanctions.
“We are not going to give [our nuclear programme] “There is no legal reason to do so while everything remains peaceful and secure,” Araghchi said, according to the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Araghchi added that as a “full member state” of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which does not require non-nuclear states to seek or acquire nuclear weapons, Iran is “ready to fully cooperate with the organization”.
But he stressed that under the treaty, Tehran has “every right to enjoy peaceful nuclear energy, including enrichment.”
“Enrichment is a sensitive part of our negotiations. The US team knows our position and we know theirs. We have already exchanged concerns and I think a solution is achievable.”
Enrichment is the process of isolating and collecting rare variants, or isotopes, of uranium that can cause nuclear fission. At low levels, enriched uranium can power power plants. If it is enriched to about 90%, it can be used to make nuclear weapons.
U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump, have previously suggested Washington is seeking “zero enrichment” from Iran.
Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said any deal with Iran must include an agreement on ballistic missiles and support for regional allies.
However, Araghchi said on Sunday that Iran is currently “negotiating only on nuclear issues.”
“There’s nothing else on the agenda,” he told CBS News, adding he was optimistic about reaching a deal.
The second round of nuclear talks concluded in Geneva on February 17th. The United States and Iran also held indirect talks in Oman earlier this month.
Araghchi said the Iranian delegation was working ahead of the meeting to present a draft proposal that would include “elements that would address the concerns and interests of both sides” for a “quick agreement.”
Iran’s top diplomat added that the deal is likely to be “better” than the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiated by former US President Barack Obama in 2015.
“There are elements that could be much better than the last agreement,” he said, without elaborating. “I don’t need to go into too much detail at this point. But we can agree on a nuclear program to maintain peace forever, and at the same time further sanctions.” [to be] lifted up. ”
