Iran reviewing proposal for 5th round of nuclear talks
DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran received and is reviewing a proposal for a fifth round of nuclear talks with the United States, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Tuesday, according to state media.
U.S. President Donald Trump said last week that a new nuclear deal with Tehran was getting very close as the latter was provided with a proposal, adding that Iranians need to "move quickly or something bad is going to happen."
The U.S. president has repeatedly warned Iran it would be bombed and face severe sanctions if it did not reach a compromise to resolve its disputed nuclear programme.
An Iranian official told Reuters that the next round of talks could take place over the weekend in Rome, although this remains to be confirmed.
Although a foreign ministry spokesperson said Tehran would continue negotiations, talks remain on shaky ground as both Iran and the U.S. have clashed on the issue of nuclear enrichment.
Majid Takht-Ravanchi, another Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, said on Monday that talks would fail if Washington insists that Tehran refrains from enrichment, which the U.S. says is a possible pathway to developing nuclear bombs.
Tehran says its nuclear energy programme has entirely peaceful purposes.
During his first, 2017-21 term as president, Trump withdrew the United States from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed strict limits on Tehran's enrichment activities in exchange for relief from international sanctions.
Trump, who branded the 2015 accord one-sided in Iran's favour, also reimposed sweeping U.S. sanctions on Iran. The Islamic Republic responded by escalating enrichment.
(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
31 minutes ago
- The Star
Tariff respite after the clash
Daily grind: Cambodian factory workers walking out for their lunch break in Phnom Penh. — AFP Thailand and Cambodia welcomed a 19% trade tariff announced by US President Donald Trump, avoiding a threatened levy of 36% days after he intervened to help broker a ceasefire in their deadly border conflict. Cambodia said it would drop all tariffs on imports from the United States and order up to 20 Boeing 737s for its national airline in a further effort to woo the Trump administration. Dozens of countries face steep levies under the tariff regime approved by Trump in Washington on Thursday, set to come into force in a week. He had originally threatened a swingeing 49% tariff on Cambodia as part of his 'Liberation Day' measures aimed at rebalancing world trade in America's favour, but cut it to 36% last month. 'This is the best news for the people and economy of Cambodia to continue to develop the country,' Prime Minister Hun Manet wrote on Facebook yesterday after the 19% levy was announced. The tariff announcement came days after Trump intervened to help broker a ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia to end border clashes that left more than 40 people dead. Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol told reporters that Cambodia would 'zero out all tariff lines' for the United States – more than 11,000 in total. And he said a 'firm offer' had been made to buy 10 Boeing Max 8s for Air Cambodia, with an option to buy another 10. 'In addition, we'll buy whatever we can – medical equipment, agricultural products – from the United States too, as long as the price is competitive,' he said. Cambodia is a major manufacturer of low-cost clothing for Western brands, with garment products accounting for most of its US$10bil in exports to the United States last year. Many factories in Cambodia are Chinese-owned and the White House has accused the kingdom of allowing Chinese goods to stop over on the way to US markets, thereby skirting steeper rates imposed on Beijing. Thailand had been negotiating with Washington for weeks, seeking a reduction in the threatened 36% levy. 'This finalised deal, setting US import tariffs at 19%, marks a major success for Thailand,' Thai government spokesman Jirayu Huangsab said in a statement. 'It represents a win-win approach aimed at preserving Thailand's export base and long-term economic stability.' — AFP
The Sun
40 minutes ago
- The Sun
Bog Apple: NYC discovers stand-alone toilet pods
NEW YORK: Faced with closed restrooms, vandalized facilities and lavatory deserts, New Yorkers and visitors to the city alike confront a host of hurdles to relieve themselves when out and about. In its latest efforts to combat this problem, the Big Apple has turned to a Portland-based company that designs modular public conveniences it claims are city-proof. The products, dubbed 'Portland Loos,' are the brainchild of Madden Fabrication and have garnered something of a cult following around the versatile, kiosk-like facilities which the company says are far cheaper than traditional toilet buildings. Such public toilet pods have already been installed in 250 locations throughout the United States. New York has pledged to build 49 new public bathrooms by 2029 to combat the lack of toilets across the five boroughs. Currently, there are approximately 1,100 public conveniences for the megacity's 8.4 million people, according to official estimates. - 'Simple but durable' - The city will spend $150 million on building new restrooms and renovating 36 existing sites. At the $200,000 unit installed in the Bronx's Joyce Kilmer park, two blocks from Yankee Stadium baseball park, bystanders eyed the new fixture with interest. One man accidentally activated the hand dryer, part of a sink fitting located on the outside of the booth. A spokesman for the company described the design as 'simple but durable,' with the basin placed outside in order to keep people moving and avoid a 'hotel effect.' 'Hell yeah, we haven't had a bathroom in this area in forever,' said lifelong Bronx resident Carlos Lopez, describing discrepancies in public restroom access between lower-income and wealthier neighborhoods. For the five trial units ordered, New York insisted on a higher grade of stainless steel and other modifications to meet strict planning rules. Street photographer Elijah Dominique, who lives near the park, said public bathrooms were especially important for unhoused people. 'We've got a lot of homeless people in this area,' Dominique said. 'Those are the people who really need these bathrooms. It's good for them -- and for us too so that we're not stepping in (waste) on the sidewalks. Nobody wants that.' - Reuters
The Sun
40 minutes ago
- The Sun
US promises Gaza food plan after envoy visit
GAZA CITY, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: President Donald Trump's special envoy promised a plan to deliver more food to Gaza after inspecting a US-backed distribution centre on Friday, as the United Nations said Israeli forces had killed hundreds of hungry Palestinians waiting for aid over the past two months. The visit by US envoy Steve Witkoff came as a report from global advocacy group Human Rights Watch accused Israeli forces of presiding over 'regular bloodbaths' close to aid points run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The UN human rights office in the Palestinian territories said at least 1,373 Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza had been killed since May 27 -- 105 of them in the last two days of July. 'Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military,' the UN office said, breaking down the death toll into 859 killed near GHF sites and 514 along routes used by UN and aid agency convoys. Witkoff said he had spent more than five hours inside Gaza, in an online post accompanied by a photograph of himself wearing a protective vest and meeting staff at a GHF distribution centre. The visit intended to give Trump 'a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza,' Witkoff said. Trump echoed this in a phone call with US news site Axios touting a plan to 'get people fed'. 'We want to help people. We want to help them live. We want to get people fed. It is something that should have happened long time ago,' Trump said according to Axios. 'Gunning them down' The US president did not say whether his plan would involve reinforcing GHF or a whole new mechanism, the report said. The GHF largely sidelined the longstanding UN-led aid distribution system in Gaza just as Israel in late May began easing a more than two-month aid blockade that exacerbated existing shortages. The foundation said it had delivered its 100-millionth meal in Gaza during the visit by Witkoff and US ambassador Mike Huckabee. Gaza's civil defence agency said 22 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and air strikes on Friday, including eight who were waiting to collect food aid. In its report on the GHF centres, Human Rights Watch accused the Israeli military of using starvation as a weapon of war. 'Israeli forces are not only deliberately starving Palestinian civilians, but they are now gunning them down almost every day as they desperately seek food for their families,' said HRW's associate crisis and conflict director, Belkis Wille. 'US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarised aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.' The Israeli military said in response that the GHF worked independently, but that troops operated near aid sites 'to enable the orderly delivery of food' while trying to 'minimise... any friction between the civilian population' and its forces. The military accused Hamas of trying to prevent food distribution, and said it was conducting a review of reported deaths. Witkoff on Thursday held talks with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to destroy Hamas and rescue hostages seized in the Palestinian group's October 2023 attack that triggered the war. But Netanyahu is under mounting international pressure to end the bloodshed that has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry, and threatened many more with famine. Hostage video Following his discussions with Witkoff, Netanyahu met Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, who warned that 'the humanitarian disaster in Gaza is beyond imagination.' Wadephul urged Israel 'to provide humanitarian and medical aid to prevent mass starvation from becoming a reality'. In an investigative report published on Friday, British public broadcaster the BBC said it had gathered accounts from witnesses, medics and other sources of more than 160 children shot in the war, including 95 hit in the head or chest, some by Israeli forces. Responding in a statement to AFP, the Israeli military said any 'intentional harm to civilians, and especially to children, is strictly prohibited' by international law and the army's orders. Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures. The retaliatory Israeli offensive has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties. Of the 251 people taken hostage during the Hamas attack on southern Israel, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the Israeli military. After Witkoff's Gaza visit, the armed wing of Hamas released a short online video showing 24-year-old Israeli hostage Evyatar David, looking emaciated and weak in a narrow concrete tunnel. - AFP
