Iran sees hope for progress after US nuclear talks
DUBAI: Iranian and U.S. negotiators wrapped up a fifth round of talks on Friday, with mediator Oman saying there was some limited progress in negotiations aimed at resolving a decades-long dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Despite both Washington and Tehran taking a tough stance in public ahead of the talks on Iran's uranium enrichment, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said there was potential for progress after Oman made several proposals during the negotiations in Rome.
'We have just completed one of the most professional rounds of talks … We firmly stated Iran's position … The fact that we are now on a reasonable path, in my view, is itself a sign of progress,' Araqchi told state TV.
'The proposals and solutions will be reviewed in respective capitals … and the next round of talks will be scheduled accordingly.'
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. delegation.
The stakes are high for both sides. President Donald Trump wants to curtail Tehran's potential to produce a nuclear weapon that could trigger a regional nuclear arms race and perhaps threaten Israel. The Islamic Republic, for its part, wants to be rid of devastating sanctions on its oil-based economy.
Iran faces US without Plan B as nuclear red lines collide
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on X the talks between Araqchi and Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had ended 'with some but not conclusive progress'.
Ahead of the talks, Araqchi wrote on X: 'Zero nuclear weapons = we Do have a deal. Zero enrichment = we do NOT have a deal. Time to decide.'
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday that Trump believes negotiations with Iran are 'moving in the right direction'.
Among remaining stumbling blocks are Tehran's refusal to ship abroad its entire stockpile of highly enriched uranium - possible raw material for nuclear bombs - or engage in discussions over its ballistic missile programme.
Stumbling blocks
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that Washington was working to reach an accord that would allow Iran to have a civil nuclear energy programme but not enrich uranium, while acknowledging that this 'will not be easy'.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on matters of state, rejected demands to stop refining uranium as 'excessive and outrageous', warning that such talks were unlikely to yield results.
Iran says it is ready to accept some limits on enrichment, but needs watertight guarantees that Washington would not renege on a future nuclear accord.
Iran's Khamenei slams 'outrageous' US demands in nuclear talks
Trump in his first term in 2018 ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between major powers and Iran. Since returning to office this year, he has restored a 'maximum pressure' campaign on Tehran and reimposed sweeping U.S. sanctions that continue to hobble the Iranian economy.
Iran responded by escalating enrichment far beyond the 2015 pact's limits.
Wendy Sherman, a former U.S. undersecretary who led the U.S. negotiating team that reached the 2015 agreement, earlier said that Tehran presents enrichment as a matter of sovereignty.
'I don't think it is possible to get a deal with Iran where they literally dismantle their programme, give up their enrichment, even though that would be ideal,' she told Reuters.
The cost of failure of the talks could be high. Iran's arch-foe Israel sees Iran's nuclear programme as an existential threat and says it would never allow the clerical establishment to obtain nuclear weapons. Tehran says it has no such ambitions and the purposes are purely civilian.
Israel's strategic affairs minister and the head of its foreign intelligence service, Mossad, were also due to be in Rome for talks with the U.S. negotiators, a source aware of the matter told Reuters.
Araqchi said on Thursday that Washington would bear legal responsibility if Israel attacked Iranian nuclear installations, following a CNN report that Israel might be preparing strikes.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
an hour ago
- Express Tribune
Pakistan, Iran ink MoU on boosting ties
On the concluding day of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit held in Tehran, a MoU was signed between Pakistan and Iran to enhance bilateral cooperation in the field of communications. The signing ceremony was attended by Iran's Minister for Roads and Urban Development Farzaneh Sadegh, and Federal Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan who also led the Pakistani delegation in this ECO summit, said a statement received here on Tuesday. A formal meeting was held between the two ministers, accompanied by their respective delegations in which both sides agreed to further strengthen the longstanding relations between the two neighboring countries. Aleem Khan highlighted the deep-rooted religious, cultural and historical ties between Pakistan and Iran, stating that the shared culture, especially from Balochistan to Iran, reflects strong commonalities in daily life and traditions. He welcomed the holding of the ECO summit in Tehran, expressing optimism that the platform would yield positive outcomes for the region. Iranian Minister Farzaneh Sadegh expressed readiness for all possible cooperation in Pakistan's Communications sector and affirmed Iran's commitment to advancing bilateral projects.
Business Recorder
2 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Dollar lingers near six-week low
NEW YORK: The dollar hovered near six-week lows on Tuesday, as mounting evidence of economic damage from the trade war waged by President Donald Trump's administration weighed on sentiment. While global equity markets have broadly recovered in the wake of the on-again, off-again saga of Trump's tariff threats, the greenback remains firmly on the back foot. Factory and jobs data in the coming days may give further signs of the toll that trade uncertainty is wreaking on the world's biggest economy. US duties on imported steel and aluminium are set to double to 50% starting on Wednesday, the same day the Trump administration expects countries to submit their best offers in trade negotiations. 'What this whole dynamic is basically saying is trade tensions are not really improving in that regard, and we've seen the dollar getting hammered widely,' said Rodrigo Catril, senior FX strategist at National Australia Bank. 'Interestingly, the Aussie and the kiwi have been the good performers this time around.' The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six others, touched 98.58, the lowest since late April, before rising 0.5%. The dollar was up 0.26% against the yen at 143.075. The euro fell 0.44% to $1.1392, having briefly touched a six-week high of $1.1454. Data earlier showed inflation in the euro zone slowed below the European Central Bank's target of 2%, underpinning expectations for a rate cut later this week. The dollar sank broadly on Monday after data showed US manufacturing contracted for a third month in May and tariff snarls meant suppliers took longer to deliver goods. Attention now turns to US factory order numbers on Tuesday, followed by jobs data later in the week. The dollar got some respite last week, rising 0.3% after trade talks with the European Union got back on track and a US trade court blocked the bulk of Trump's tariffs. An appeals court reinstated the duties a day later, and Trump's administration said it had other avenues to implement them if it loses in court. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were likely to have a call soon to iron out trade differences, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday, although on Monday there was an angry rejection from China's Commerce Ministry of US accusations that Beijing violated their trade agreement. 'Trade developments remain crucial. Reports suggest China is gaining leverage over the US through its control of chip supply chains and rare earths,' ING strategist Francesco Pesole said. 'Trump and Xi Jinping are set to speak this week, and past direct talks have sometimes eased tensions. That leaves room for a positive surprise that could help the dollar at some point this week,' he said. Fiscal worries have also given rise to a broad 'sell America' theme that has seen dollar assets from stocks to Treasury bonds dropping in recent months.
Business Recorder
2 hours ago
- Business Recorder
OECD lowers global outlook
PARIS: Global economic growth is slowing more than expected only a few months ago as the fallout from the Trump administration's trade war takes a bigger toll on the US economy, the OECD said on Tuesday, revising down its outlook. The global economy is on course to slow from 3.3% last year to 2.9% in 2025 and 2026, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said, trimming its estimates from March for growth of 3.1% this year and 3.0% next year. But the growth outlook would likely be even weaker if protectionism increases, further fuelling inflation, disrupting supply chains and rattling financial markets, the Paris-based organisation said in its latest Economic Outlook. 'Additional increases in trade barriers or prolonged policy uncertainty would further lower growth prospects and likely push inflation higher in countries imposing tariffs,' OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann said as he presented the report. If Washington raised bilateral tariffs by an additional 10 percentage points on all countries as compared with the rates in force as of mid-May, global economic output would be about 0.3% lower after two years, Cormann added. 'The key policy priorities in this context are constructive dialogue to ensure a lasting resolution to current trade tensions,' Cormann said. US President Donald Trump's tariff announcements since he took office in January have already roiled financial markets and fuelled global economic uncertainty, forcing him to walk back some of his initial stances. Last month, the US and China agreed to a temporary truce to scale back tariffs, while Trump also postponed 50% duties on the European Union until July 9. The OECD forecast the US economy would grow only 1.6% this year and 1.5% next year, assuming for the purpose of making calculations that tariffs in place mid-May would remain so through the rest of 2025 and 2026. For 2025, the new forecast marked a sizeable cut as the organisation had previously expected the world's biggest economy would grow 2.2% this year and 1.6% next year. While new tariffs may create incentives to manufacture in the United States, higher import prices would squeeze consumers' purchasing power and economic policy uncertainty would hold back corporate investment, the OECD warned. Meanwhile, the higher tariff receipts would only partly offset revenues lost due to the extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, new tax cuts and weaker economic growth, it added. Trump's sweeping tax cut and spending bill was expected to push the US budget deficit to 8% of economic output by 2026, among the biggest fiscal shortfalls for a developed economy not at war. As tariffs fuel inflation pressures, the Federal Reserve was seen keeping rates on hold through this year and then cutting the fed funds rate to 3.25-3.5% by the end of 2026. In China, the fallout from the US tariff hikes would be partly offset by government subsidies for a trade-in programme on consumer goods like mobile phones and appliances and increased welfare transfers, the OECD said.
