Iran’s technical team to partake in 4th round of US talks: FM spox
Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman said on Saturday that a technical team will accompany Iran’s delegation in the fourth round of nuclear talks with the United States in Oman today, which was originally scheduled for May 3 in Rome.
Esmaeil Baqaei made the remarks after a CNN report said that the Sunday talks will only be high-level, suggesting that the two sides would discuss a broader framework for moving forward. A source familiar told CNN that the technical team, which negotiates on more granular aspects of a deal like sanctions relief, is not expected to attend.
On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced that the fourth round of the talks will be held on Sunday. It was scheduled to be held on May 3 but was postponed for “logistical and technical reasons.”
The top Iranian negotiator emphasized that the Tehran-Washington talks are progressing.
“Naturally, the more progress we make, the more consultations and reviews will be required,” he said, adding, “The delegations need more time to examine the issues raised.”
“But it is important that we are moving forward in a way that will gradually lead us into the details,” he explained.
Mediated by Oman, Iran and the US have held three rounds of talks in the Omani capital of Muscat and Italian capital of Rome on April 12, 19, and 26 with the aim of reaching a deal on Iran’s nuclear program and the removal of sanctions on Tehran.
The previous rounds of talks ended with notes of optimism, with the two sides saying the atmosphere was friendly despite the countries’ four decades of enmity.
Uranium enrichment
Ahead of the Sunday talks, the US negotiator Steve Witkoff, who had initially suggested flexibility on Tehran maintaining low-level enrichment of uranium for civilian purposes, in an interview published Friday, gave his clearest message that the US administration would oppose any enrichment.
“An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That’s our red line. No enrichment,” he told right-wing Breitbart News.
“That means dismantlement, it means no weaponization, and it means that Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan – those are their three enrichment facilities – have to be dismantled,” he said.
“We’re inviting Iran to be a member of the league of nations,” he said. “We’re saying to Iran: ‘You can be a better nation. We can do business with you. We can have strategic relationships with you. But you can’t be a provocateur,’” he said.
Witkoff said Iran has told the US it does not want a nuclear weapon – a position Tehran has long maintained.
He warned that if Sunday’s talks with Iran are not productive, “then they won’t continue and we’ll have to take a different route.”
Iran’s redlines
Iran has repeatedly said it must be allowed to enrich uranium, that it’s non-negotiable.
“Iran has every right to possess the full nuclear fuel cycle,” Araghchi wrote on X a week ago.
Trump in his first term withdrew from a nuclear agreement with Tehran negotiated by former president Barack Obama that allowed Iran to enrich uranium.