Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi has confirmed that further talks between the United States and Iran will take place on Thursday amid spiralling tensions between the two countries.
“Pleased to confirm US-Iran negotiations are now set for Geneva this Thursday, with a positive push to go the extra mile towards finalizing the deal,” Albusaidi said in a social media post on Sunday.
The announcement comes as the US continues to bolster its military assets in the region raising concern about an all-out war against Iran.
Hours before Oman’s announcement, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was ready to put in place a “full monitoring mechanism” to guarantee the peaceful nature of its nuclear programme and ease tensions.
Asked by Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan why Iran would want to pursue enrichment on its soil rather than buy enriched uranium from abroad, given the US military build-up and risk of an escalation, Araghchi said the issue was a matter of “dignity and pride” for Iranians.
“We have developed this technology by ourselves, by our scientists, and it is very dear to us because we have created it – we have paid a huge expense for that,” he said.
Araghchi cited among the costs two decades of US sanctions, the targeted killings of Iranian scientists and US-Israeli attacks on nuclear facilities in July.
“We’re not going to give [our nuclear programme] up; there is no legal reason to do that while everything is peaceful and safeguarded” by the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
As a “committed member” of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which mandates nonnuclear-weapon states not to seek or acquire nuclear weapons, Iran is “ready to cooperate with the agency in full”, Araghchi added.
But under the treaty, Tehran also has “every right to enjoy a peaceful nuclear energy, including enrichment.”
“Enrichment is a sensitive part of our negotiations, the American team knows about our position and we know their position, we have already exchanged our concerns and I think a solution is achievable,” the minister said.
Enrichment is the process of isolating and garnering a rare variant, or isotope, of uranium that can produce nuclear fission. At low levels, enriched uranium can power electric plants. If enriched to approximately 90 percent, it can be used for nuclear weapons.
US officials, including President Donald Trump, have previously suggested that Washington is seeking “zero enrichment” by Tehran.
Earlier this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said any deal with Iran would need to include agreements on ballistic missiles and support for its allies in the region.
Araghchi, however, said on Sunday that Iran was “negotiating only nuclear” at the present time.
“There is no other subject,” he told CBS News, adding that he was optimistic that a deal could be reached.
The second round of nuclear talks concluded in Geneva on February 17. The US and Iran also held indirect talks in Oman earlier this month.
The Iranian delegation is working ahead of the meeting to present a draft that included “elements which can accommodate both sides’ concerns and interests” to reach a “fast deal”, Araghchi said.
The top Iranian diplomat added the agreement would likely be “better” than the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), negotiated by former US President Barack Obama in 2015.
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