Witkoff: US wants 4th round of talks with Iran this week
Washington - Saba:
US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff revealed on Tuesday that the United States wants to hold a fourth round of negotiations with Iran regarding its nuclear program this week.
Barak Ravid, a correspondent for the American website Axios, quoted Witkoff as saying: "The United States is trying to schedule a fourth round of nuclear negotiations with Iran this week."
According to Ravid, Witkoff confirmed that the two sides are making progress in the negotiations.
Witkoff said: "If this (meeting) doesn't happen, it will be because of the visit of the US President (Donald Trump) to the Middle East. We are making some progress. The president wants to resolve this issue diplomatically, if possible, so we are doing our best to get that started."
Witkoff expressed hope that "there will be progress on a ceasefire in Gaza, before or after Trump's trip to the Middle East this month."
US President Donald Trump stated in an interview with NBC News on Sunday that "the goal of negotiations with Iran is to completely dismantle Iran's nuclear program," but expressed his openness to exploring calls for "civilian nuclear energy while ending its nuclear weapons program."
The US president explained that he is willing to listen to arguments in favor of allowing Tehran to pursue "civilian nuclear energy" in exchange for ending its nuclear weapons program, saying: "I think I would be open to hearing that... Civilian energy, as it's called, often leads to military wars, and we don't want them to have nuclear weapons... It's a very simple deal."
The first round of negotiations between Iran and the United States regarding Iran's nuclear program began on April 12 in the Omani capital, Muscat. The Omani embassy in Rome hosted the second round of negotiations on April 19, and the third round was held again in Muscat on April 26.
Following the conclusion of the third round of Iranian-US negotiations in the Sultanate of Oman, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that "this round was more serious than the previous two," while noting that "there are still differences between the two sides on key issues and details."
It is worth noting that in 2015, Britain, Germany, China, Russia, the United States, and France reached an agreement with Iran regarding its nuclear program, which stipulated the easing of sanctions in exchange for restrictions on the nuclear program.
Later, during the term of former President Donald Trump, the United States withdrew from the nuclear agreement in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.
Iran responded by announcing a gradual reduction in its commitments under the agreement, specifically abandoning restrictions on nuclear research and uranium enrichment.
With Trump's return to the White House in January 2025, Washington reactivated the "maximum pressure" policy on Iran, exacerbating the economic crisis and increasing inflation rates.
Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
more of (International)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Saba Yemen
2 hours ago
- Saba Yemen
DFLP condemns Israeli enemy's arrest of Madeleine crew members
Gaza – Saba: The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) said on Monday that the Israeli entity has moved from committing genocide against the people of the Gaza Strip to piracy of Gaza, with the capture of Madeleine, one of the ships of the "Freedom Flotilla," formed by a group of activists with the aim of breaking the Zionist blockade imposed on the Strip. The DFLP affirmed, in a statement, that the Zionist blockade of the Gaza Strip aims to starve its population and force them to emigrate, fleeing death at the hands of the American war machine and the Zionist starvation siege. The Front condemned the arrest of the Madeleine crew, calling for their immediate release, the release of the ship, and the permission to break the blockade and continue their mission to deliver the emergency aid the ship carried to the children of the Gaza Strip, who are threatened with death by starvation and thirst. US munitions and fighter jets destroyed approximately 70 percent of the Gaza Strip's children and women, out of a total of more than 55,000 martyrs and approximately 15,000 missing under the rubble. The Democratic Front called on the world, especially its free people and defenders of the rights of peoples, including the Palestinian people, to condemn this shameful Zionist act and demand the release of the heroes of the Freedom Flotilla "Madeleine." It also called on the Freedom Flotilla activists to respond to the hostile Zionist act by organizing more freedom ships until the blockade on the Gaza Strip is broken. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print more of (International)
Saba Yemen
2 hours ago
- Saba Yemen
Palestinian resistance factions call for pressure on Zionist entity, US administration to resume aid distribution through international organizations
Gaza – Saba: Palestinian resistance factions said on Monday that US aid distribution centers have turned into death traps targeting the starving Palestinian people driven by hunger and thirst. They emphasized that these fake centers have become daily massacres before the eyes of the entire world. In a statement, a copy of it received by the Yemeni News Agency (Saba), The factions added: "In the face of all this injustice and oppression to which our people are subjected, we, the Palestinian resistance factions, emphasize that the primary goal of the so-called US aid distribution centers is to end the mission of UNRWA and liquidate the Palestinian cause as a political issue, transforming it into a relief and humanitarian one. This is to accelerate the crime of forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, and the emptying of the Gaza Strip of its people and residents, in implementation of the criminal Trump plan." The statement called on "all international and Arab legal and judicial organizations, and all free people around the world, to prosecute the inhumane American security establishment, which is carrying out a suspicious security and intelligence role and has caused the martyrdom of more than 126 of our people, who are suffering from famine due to the criminal Zionist siege." It also called for "pressure on the Zionist entity and the US administration to resume the distribution of relief aid through international organizations affiliated with the United Nations, foremost among them UNRWA, as it is the only agency capable of carrying out this mission, given its legal capacity, practical experience, and competencies to preserve the lives, dignity, and humanity of our people in Gaza." The statement warned "all Palestinian people against being lured by any false promises from the Zionist occupation or its mercenaries, agents, and thieves. We also warn any family, institutional entity, or suspicious company against collaborating with the Zionist enemy's plans to create suspicious and agentic alternatives to UNRWA." It stressed that "the resistance's security forces and groups now have the full authority and authorization to strike with all force and determination at the hands of any body or person who intersects with or responds to the enemy's plans or any agent who is outside the law and the traditions and customs of our people, and that all agents, thieves, and criminal armed gangs will be a legitimate target for the resistance's security forces and groups, and he who has been warned is excused." Whatsapp Telegram Email Print more of (International)
Saba Yemen
3 hours ago
- Saba Yemen
Government Media Office in Gaza: GHF arm of Israeli occupation, causing deaths of more than 130 people
Gaza – Saba: The Government Media Office in the Gaza Strip has confirmed that the GHF is an arm of the Israeli occupation, not a humanitarian organization. It has caused the deaths of more than 130 people and injured 1,000 starving people in two weeks, and is spreading cheap lies. In a statement, a copy of it received by the Yemeni News Agency (Saba), it said: "The so-called 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)' continues to spread canned lies, falsely claiming that the Palestinian resistance is threatening its staff and preventing them from distributing aid, while the stark reality is that this organization itself is nothing more than a propaganda front for the Israeli occupation army." The statement added that this organization is led by American and Israeli officers and recruits from outside the Gaza Strip, with direct American funding and operational coordination with the Israeli army, which is committing an ongoing genocide against more than 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. He said, "The truth known to everyone is that the Israeli occupation is the only party preventing the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza for nearly 100 consecutive days, by deliberately closing all crossings in the Gaza Strip, preventing more than 55,000 aid trucks from reaching the affected families over the past 100 days, and restricting the movement of dozens of UN institutions and organizations working in the relief field. The statement added, "This has been explicitly confirmed by the United Nations, the Red Cross, OCHA, the World Health Organization, and others, that the occupation is the first and last obstacle to aid, preventing it from reaching the starving and civilian population in the Gaza Strip." It said, "GHF has been and continues to be an accomplice in an organized crime targeting civilians through the bait of aid. Field evidence documents that this organization, through its teams sponsored by the occupation forces, has—in just two weeks of its work—caused the deaths of more than 130 civilians, killed by direct fire while trying to reach food parcels at the checkpoints of humiliation and oppression." Nearly 1,000 other civilians were injured, while nine Palestinians remain missing after being lured by this "Israeli"-American organization to areas controlled by the Israeli occupation army. These are full-fledged crimes punishable under international law. The statement emphasized that GHF completely lacks the principles of humanitarian action, represented by neutrality, as it cooperates on the ground with the occupation army and carries out its directives, which issue announcements to the starving population. It also lacks impartiality, as it operates within a clear "Israeli" security agenda and serves the "Israeli" occupation's goals of subjugating the population. It also lacks independence, as it receives its instructions and funding from foreign government sources and the "Israeli" occupation army. It also lacks humanity, as it has never been on the side of humanity, but rather has been a tool of pressure, starvation, and murder against the civilian population. It also emphasized that any organization claiming to be humanitarian while implementing military plans and operating distribution points within "buffer zones" supervised by occupation tanks cannot be considered a relief organization. Rather, it is part of the tools of genocide and an actual partner in the crime of genocide against the civilian population. The Government Media Office called on "the entire world not to be misled by this organization, which practices organized and systematic crime. The Palestinian resistance does not threaten anyone; rather, it protects the right of its people to survive, in the face of false institutions that commit murder under false banners. The international community must cease its blind bias, end this moral tragedy, and allow the entry of tens of thousands of trucks for United Nations organizations that have been working for decades to provide relief to refugees and civilians, and which are efficient and committed to the principles of humanitarian action." Whatsapp Telegram Email more of (International)
