Iranian and US negotiators closed on Friday a fifth round of nuclear talks in Rome with \u201csome but not conclusive progress\u201d, mediator Oman said, after a public disagreement over Tehran\u2019s uranium enrichment.<\/p>\n
The talks, which began in April, are the highest-level contact between the foes since the United States quit a landmark 2015 nuclear accord during President Donald Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n
Since returning to office, Trump has revived his \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d campaign on Iran, backing talks but warning of military action if diplomacy fails.<\/p>\n
Iran wants a new deal that would ease the sanctions which have battered its economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fifth round of Iran-US talks have concluded today in Rome with some but not conclusive progress,\u201d Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on X, adding that he hoped \u201cthe remaining issues\u201d would be clarified in the coming days.<\/p>\n
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei had earlier said that chief US negotiator Steve Witkoff had left the talks \u201cdue to his flight schedule\u201d. The fourth round of talks, in the Omani capital Muscat, ended with a public spat over enrichment.<\/p>\n
Witkoff said Washington \u201ccould not authorise even one per cent\u201d enrichment \u2014 a position Tehran called a red line, citing its rights under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.<\/p>\n
\u2018Fundamental differences\u2019
\nAhead of Friday\u2019s talks, Araghchi said \u201cfundamental differences\u201d remained with the United States, while adding that Tehran was open to its nuclear sites undergoing more inspections.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not have an agreement at all\u201d if the United States wants to prevent Iran from enriching uranium, he said.<\/p>\n
The talks came ahead of a June meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the October expiry of the 2015 accord.<\/p>\n
The deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, aimed to allay Western suspicions that Iran was seeking a nuclear weapons capability, an ambition that Tehran has consistently denied.<\/p>\n
In return for curbs on its nuclear programme, Iran had received relief from international sanctions. But the accord was torpedoed in 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States and reimposed sanctions.<\/p>\n
A year later, Iran responded by ramping up its nuclear activities.<\/p>\n
It is now enriching uranium to 60pc \u2014 far above the deal\u2019s 3.67pc cap but below, though close to, the 90pc level needed for a nuclear warhead.<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s quite simple\u2019
\nAnalysts in Tehran said Iran was unlikely to back down.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s quite simple; if the US expects Iran to halt nuclear enrichment, then there can\u2019t be a deal,\u201d said Mohammad Marandi, a political scientist who was once an adviser on the nuclear issue.<\/p>\n
The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran says the country\u2019s nuclear industry employs 17,000 people, similar to other countries where uranium is enriched for civilian use.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Netherlands, Belgium, South Korea, Brazil and Japan enrich [uranium] without possessing nuclear weapons,\u201d its spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s enmity with Israel, whose main backer is the United States, has been a constant backdrop to the talks.<\/p>\n
In a letter to the United Nations, Araghchi wrote: \u201cWe believe that in the event of any attack on the nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Zionist regime, the US government will also be involved and bear legal responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
The warning came after CNN, citing unnamed US officials, reported Israel was making preparations to carry out such a strike.<\/p>\n
The White House said Trump had a \u201cproductive discussion\u201d with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday about Iran and the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington.<\/p>\n
\u2018Irreversible\u2019
\nThe 2015 deal provides for the possibility of UN sanctions being reimposed through a mechanism called \u201csnapback\u201d if Iran fails to fulfil its commitments.<\/p>\n
The agreement\u2019s three European parties \u2014 Britain, France and Germany \u2014 have warned they will trigger the mechanism if the continent\u2019s security is threatened.<\/p>\n
Araghchi said such a move would have \u201cconsequences \u2014 not only the end of Europe\u2019s role in the agreement, but also an escalation of tensions that could become irreversible\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Iranian and US negotiators closed on Friday a fifth round of nuclear talks in Rome with \u201csome but not conclusive progress\u201d, mediator Oman said, after a public disagreement over Tehran\u2019s uranium enrichment. The talks, which began in April, are the highest-level contact between the foes since the United States quit a landmark 2015 nuclear accord […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9402,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9401"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9403,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9401\/revisions\/9403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}