Latest news with #Iran-U.S.
The Hindu
a day ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Iran has amassed even more near weapons-grade uranium, UN watchdog says
Iran has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, a confidential report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Saturday (May 31, 2025) and called on Tehran to urgently change course and comply with the agency's probe. The report comes at a sensitive time as Tehran and Washington have been holding several rounds of talks over a possible nuclear deal that U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to reach. The report by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency — which was seen by The Associated Press — says that as of May 17, Iran has amassed 408.6 kilograms (900.8 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%. That's an increase of 133.8 kilograms (294.9 pounds) since the IAEA's last report in February. That material is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. A report in February put the stockpile at 274.8 kilograms (605.8 pounds). The IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi has stressed repeatedly that 'Iran is the only non-nuclear weapon state enriching to this level.' On Saturday, Mr. Grossi said he 'reiterates his urgent call upon Iran to cooperate fully and effectively' with the IAEA. Iran-U.S. nuclear deal On Thursday, senior Iranian officials dismissed speculation about an imminent nuclear deal with the United States, emphasizing that any agreement must fully lift sanctions and allow the country's nuclear program to continue. The comments came a day after Mr. Trump said he has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on striking Iran to give the U.S. administration more time to push for a new nuclear deal with Tehran. Mr. Trump said on Friday that he still thinks a deal could be completed in the 'not too distant future.' 'They don't want to be blown up. They would rather make a deal,' Mr. Trump said of Iran. He added, 'That would be a great thing that we could have a deal without bombs being dropped all over the Middle East.' Mr. Trump said he's warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from carrying out preemptive strikes on Iran's nuclear program, while the talks are playing out.
Al Manar
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Manar
Path to Agreement Goes through Negotiating Table, Not through Media: Iran FM
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in reaction to some media speculations that an agreement was between Tehran and Washington in a post on his X account wrote 'media is speculating about an imminent Iran-U.S. deal. Not sure if we are there yet.' The Foreign Minister pointed out that Iran is sincere about a diplomatic solution that will serve the interests of all sides, adding, 'But getting there requires an agreement that will fully terminate all sanctions and uphold Iran's nuclear rights—including enrichment.' Araghchi reiterated that path to a deal goes through the negotiating table and not the media. 'As for the latest fake news against Iran-U.S. diplomacy: using Iran to attack American critics is low, even for Israel,' the Foreign Minister said. The spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, during the latest round, that the talks between Iran and the U.S. were taking place in a professional environment.
Shafaq News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Tehran insists on full sanctions relief in nuclear talks
Shafaq News/ On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi dismissed reports of an imminent agreement with the United States. Araqchi announced in a post on X that Iran remains committed to diplomacy but that any progress must be based on a 'comprehensive agreement' that secures Iran's nuclear rights. Media is speculating about an imminent Iran-U.S. deal. Not sure if we are there yet. Iran is sincere about a diplomatic solution that will serve the interests of all sides. But getting there requires an agreement that will fully terminate all sanctions and uphold Iran's nuclear… — Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) May 29, 2025 Yesterday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei noted in a press conference that nuclear discussions were still underway to determine the time and venue for the next round of indirect talks, mediated by Oman. 'The only topics under discussion between Iran and the US are the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions,' Baqaei told reporters. 'No other subjects have been or will be included.' He firmly rejected any suggestion that Iran might soften its position on uranium enrichment, describing it as a 'fundamental principle' of the country's nuclear policy.
Time of India
24-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Iran-US nuclear talks: What's at stake?
Iran and the United States made modest progress during talks in Rome over the future of Iran's nuclear program, an intermediary said Friday after the fifth round of such discussions. The two sides met for a little less than three hours and had "some but not conclusive progress," Oman's foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, said in a cautiously optimistic message on social media. His country has mediated the talks. "We hope to clarify the remaining issues in the coming days, to allow us to proceed towards the common goal of reaching a sustainable and honorable agreement," he added. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like If You Eat Ginger Everyday for 1 Month This is What Happens Tips and Tricks The main issue at stake in the latest round of talks was Washington's demand that Iran halt all nuclear enrichment and dismantle all of its centrifuges. Iran has insisted that it will not give up the right to nuclear enrichment at lower levels as guaranteed by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. President Donald Trump 's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is trying to find a formula that works, and the fact that the talks did not break up in acrimony was viewed as positive. It also suggests that Abbas Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister -- Witkoff 's counterpart in the discussions -- will need to consult with Iran's leadership, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei , over how to proceed. Live Events Araghchi said that "this round was one of the most professional stages of negotiations that we have experienced so far," according to the Tasmin news agency. "Our positions are completely clear and we stand by them," he said, adding: "It seems that now there is a clearer and more precise understanding of these positions on the American side." A senior American official said in a statement that "the talks continue to be constructive -- we made further progress, but there is still work to be done." Both sides agreed to meet again in the near future, the official said. Still, it was clear that the core disagreement over enrichment had not been resolved. Both Iran and the United States have said they want to resolve their decades-old dispute over Iran's nuclear activities, with Tehran exchanging limits on its nuclear program for the lifting of harsh U.S. and international economic sanctions. Here's what to know about the Iran-U.S. nuclear talks so far. What happened in previous talks? At the previous round of talks, in Oman on May 11, Iran proposed the creation of a joint nuclear-enrichment venture involving regional Arab countries and American investments as an alternative to Washington's demand that it dismantle its nuclear program, according to four Iranian officials familiar with the plan. Araghchi proposed the idea, originally floated in 2007, to Witkoff, according to the Iranian officials. They asked not to be named because they were discussing sensitive issues. A spokesperson for Witkoff denied that the proposal had come up. But since then, Witkoff has outlined a harder administration position. "An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again, that's our red line," Witkoff said in an interview this month with Breitbart News. "No enrichment. 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." Earlier meetings included the nuts-and-bolts expert talks, which brought together nuclear and financial teams from both sides to hash out technical details, such as the monitoring of Iran's nuclear facilities and what would happen to its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, along with easing sanctions. Trump has defined the objective of the negotiations as preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. But achieving that goal would not address other concerns about Iran's advanced missile program, its support of proxy militias around the Middle East and its hostility to Israel. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghai, has said that the issue of the country's defense and missile abilities had "not been and will not be raised in indirect negotiations with the United States." What's at stake? The talks have the potential to reshape regional and global security by reducing the chance of a U.S.-backed Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities and preventing Iran from producing a nuclear weapon. A deal could also transform Iran's economic and political landscape by easing American sanctions and opening the country to foreign investors. Both the United States and Israel have vowed that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon; Iran insists that its nuclear program is civilian only. But Iran has been enriching uranium to around 60% purity, just short of the levels needed to produce a weapon. It has amassed enough to build up to seven bombs if it chooses to weaponize, according to the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency . Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, and the IAEA has said it has not found signs of weaponization. If its nuclear facilities are attacked, Iran has said it would retaliate fiercely and would consider leaving the U.N. Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Iran's economy and the future of its 90 million people are also on the line. Years of sanctions have created chronic inflation -- exacerbated by economic mismanagement and corruption. Now, many Iranians say they feel trapped in a downward spiral and hope that a U.S.-Iran deal would help. What are the sticking points? The question of whether to allow Iran to continue enriching uranium has divided Trump's advisers. Witkoff had earlier described a possible agreement that would allow Iran to enrich uranium at the low levels needed to produce fuel for energy, along with monitoring. But he now says that total dismantlement of Iran's nuclear enrichment program is the American bottom line. Iran's new proposal entails the establishment of a three-country nuclear consortium in which Iran would enrich uranium to a low grade, beneath that needed for nuclear weapons, and then ship it to certain Arab countries for civilian use, according to the Iranian officials and news reports. Iranian officials have said they are willing to reduce enrichment levels to those specified in the 2015 nuclear agreement with the Obama administration -- about 3.5% -- around the level needed to produce fuel for nuclear power plants. But in a recent podcast interview, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that Iran could have a civilian nuclear program without enriching uranium domestically -- by importing enriched uranium, as other countries do. How did we get here? The two sides came into the negotiations with deep distrust. The previous deal between Iran and the United States and other world powers, signed during the Obama administration, was called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. It put measures in place to prevent Iran from weaponizing its nuclear program by capping enrichment of uranium at about 3.5%, transferring stockpiles of enriched uranium to Russia and allowing monitoring cameras and inspections by the IAEA. Trump unilaterally exited the nuclear deal in 2018. European companies then pulled out of Iran, and banks stopped working with Iran, fearing U.S. sanctions. About a year after Trump left the agreement, Iran, not seeing any financial benefits, moved away from its obligations and increased its levels uranium enrichment, gradually reaching 60%. What comes next? Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had barred negotiating with Trump in the past, authorized the talks and said the negotiating team has his support. But a deal is not necessarily around the corner. The two sides have to find a way out of their impasse over enrichment. And talks could still break down at the technical level, which was the most challenging part of previous negotiations. It is also possible that an interim deal could be reached to freeze uranium enrichment while a permanent deal is hashed out. This article originally appeared in The New York Times .
Yomiuri Shimbun
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Iran-US Talks Made ‘Some but Not Conclusive Progress,' Mediator Oman Says
Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP In this photo released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, reads a paper in a meeting with his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr Albusaidi at the Omani Embassy in Rome during the fifth round of Iran-U.S. negotiations, Friday, May 23, 2025. ROME (AP) — Iran and the United States made 'some but not conclusive progress' Friday in a fifth round of negotiations in Rome over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, the talks' Omani mediator said. The remarks by Badr al-Busaidi suggested the negotiations between the two longtime enemies would continue even as the talks run up against their toughest challenge: Trying to find middle ground between American demands that Iran stop enriching uranium while Tehran insists its program must continue. 'The fifth round of Iran US talks have concluded today in Rome with some but not conclusive progress,' al-Busaidi wrote on X. 'We hope to clarify the remaining issues in the coming days, to allow us to proceed towards the common goal of reaching a sustainable and honourable agreement.' Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi after the talks told Iranian state television that al-Busaidi presented ideas that will be conveyed to the two nations' capitals 'without creating any commitments for either side.' 'These negotiations are too complex to be resolved in just two or three meetings,' he said. 'I am hopeful that in the next one or two rounds — especially given the better understanding of the Islamic Republic's positions — we can reach solutions that allow the talks to progress.' He added: 'We are not there yet, but we are not discouraged either.' The U.S. was again represented in the talks by Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Michael Anton, the State Department's policy planning director, at the negotiations in the Omani Embassy in Rome's Camilluccia neighborhood. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks, said the direct and indirect negotiations 'continue to be constructive.' 'The talks continue to be constructive — we made further progress, but there is still work to be done,' the official said. Enrichment remains key in negotiations The talks seek to limit Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the U.S. has imposed on the Islamic Republic, closing in on half a century of enmity. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran's program if a deal isn't reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. 'Iran almost certainly is not producing nuclear weapons, but Iran has undertaken activities in recent years that better position it to produce them, if it chooses to do so,' a new report from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency said. 'These actions reduce the time required to produce sufficient weapons-grade uranium for a first nuclear device to probably less than one week.' However, it likely still would take Iran months to make a working bomb, experts say. Enrichment remains the key point of contention. Witkoff at one point suggested Iran could enrich uranium at 3.67%, then later began saying all Iranian enrichment must stop. That position on the American side has hardened over time. Asked about the negotiations, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said 'we believe that we are going to succeed' in the talks and on Washington's push for no enrichment. 'The Iranians are at that table, so they also understand what our position is, and they continue to go,' Bruce said Thursday. One idea floated so far that might allow Iran to stop enrichment in the Islamic Republic but maintain a supply of uranium could be a consortium in the Mideast backed by regional countries and the U.S. There also are multiple countries and the International Atomic Energy Agency offering low-enriched uranium that can be used for peaceful purposes by countries. However, Iran's Foreign Ministry has maintained enrichment must continue within the country's borders and a similar fuel-swap proposal failed to gain traction in negotiations in 2010. Meanwhile, Israel has threatened to strike Iran's nuclear facilities on their own if it feels threatened, further complicating tensions in the Mideast already spiked by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Araghchi warned Thursday that Iran would take 'special measures' to defend its nuclear facilities if Israel continues to threaten them, while also warning the U.S. it would view it as being complicit in any Israeli attack. Authorities allowed a group of Iranian students to form a human chain Thursday at its underground enrichment site at Fordo, an area with incredibly tight security built into a mountain to defend against possible airstrikes. Talks come as US pressure on Iran increases Yet despite the tough talk from Iran, the Islamic Republic needs a deal. Its internal politics are inflamed over the mandatory hijab, or headscarf, with women still ignoring the law on the streets of Tehran. Rumors also persist over the government potentially increasing the cost of subsidized gasoline in the country, which has sparked nationwide protests in the past. Iran's rial currency plunged to over 1 million to a U.S. dollar in April. The currency has improved with the talks, however, something Tehran hopes will continue as a further collapse in the rial could spark further economic unrest. Meanwhile, its self-described 'Axis of Resistance' sits in tatters after Iran's regional allies in the region have faced repeated attacks by Israel during its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The collapse of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government during a rebel advance in December also stripped Iran of a key ally. The Trump administration also has continued to levy new sanctions on Iran, including this week, which saw the U.S. specifically target any sale of sodium perchlorate to the Islamic Republic. Iran reportedly received that chemical in shipments from China at its Shahid Rajaei port near Bandar Abbas. A major, unexplained explosion there killed dozens and wounded over 1,000 others in April during one round of the talks.
