Latest news with #OmaniForeignMinister
Japan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Iran poised to dismiss U.S. nuclear proposal, Iranian diplomat says
Iran is poised to reject a U.S. proposal to end a decades-old nuclear dispute, an Iranian diplomat said on Monday, dismissing it as a "non-starter" that fails to address Tehran's interests or soften Washington's stance on uranium enrichment. "Iran is drafting a negative response to the U.S. proposal, which could be interpreted as a rejection of the U.S. offer," the senior diplomat, who is close to Iran's negotiating team, said. The U.S. proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on Saturday by Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, who was on a short visit to Tehran and has been mediating talks between Tehran and Washington. After five rounds of discussions between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, several obstacles remain. Among them are Iran's rejection of a U.S. demand that it commit to scrapping uranium enrichment and its refusal to ship abroad its entire existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium — possible raw material for nuclear bombs. Tehran says it wants to master nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and has long denied accusations by Western powers that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. "In this proposal, the U.S. stance on enrichment on Iranian soil remains unchanged, and there is no clear explanation regarding the lifting of sanctions," said the diplomat, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. Araqchi said Tehran would formally respond to the proposal soon. The White House encouraged Iran to accept the deal. "President Trump has made it clear that Iran can never obtain a nuclear bomb. Special Envoy Witkoff has sent a detailed and acceptable proposal to the Iranian regime, and it's in their best interest to accept it," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "Out of respect for the ongoing deal, the Administration will not comment on details of the proposal to the media." Tehran demands the immediate removal of all U.S.-imposed curbs that impair its oil-based economy. But the U.S. says nuclear-related sanctions should be removed in phases. Dozens of institutions vital to Iran's economy, including its central bank and national oil company, have been blacklisted since 2018 for, according to Washington, "supporting terrorism or weapons proliferation." Trump's revival of "maximum pressure" against Tehran since his return to the White House in January has included tightening sanctions and threatening to bomb Iran if the negotiations yield no deal. During his first term in 2018, Trump ditched Tehran's 2015 nuclear pact with six powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy. Iran responded by escalating enrichment far beyond the pact's limits. Under the deal, Iran had until 2018 curbed its sensitive nuclear work in return for relief from U.S., European Union and U.N. economic sanctions. The diplomat said the assessment of "Iran's nuclear negotiations committee," under the supervision of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was that the U.S. proposal was "completely one-sided" and could not serve Tehran's interests. Therefore, the diplomat said, Tehran considers this proposal a "non-starter" and believes it unilaterally attempts to impose a "bad deal" on Iran through excessive demands. The stakes are high for both sides. Trump wants to curtail Tehran's potential to produce a nuclear weapon that could trigger a regional nuclear arms race and perhaps threaten Israel. Iran's clerical establishment, for its part, wants to be rid of the devastating sanctions. 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. Two Iranian officials said last week that Iran could pause uranium enrichment if the U.S. released frozen Iranian funds and recognized Tehran's right to refine uranium for civilian use under a "political deal" that could lead to a broader nuclear accord. Iran's arch-foe Israel, which sees Iran's nuclear program as an existential threat, has repeatedly threatened to bomb the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Araqchi, in a joint news conference with his Egyptian counterpart in Cairo, said, "I do not think Israel will commit such a mistake as to attack Iran." Tehran's regional influence has meanwhile been diminished by military setbacks suffered by its forces and those of its allies in the Shiite-dominated "Axis of Resistance," which include Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen, and Iraqi militias. In April, Saudi Arabia's defense minister delivered a blunt message to Iranian officials to take Trump's offer of a new deal seriously as a way to avoid the risk of war with Israel.
Globe and Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Iran set to reject U.S. nuclear proposal over uranium enrichment demand, report says
Iran is poised to reject a U.S. proposal to end a decades-old nuclear dispute, an Iranian diplomat said on Monday, dismissing it as a 'non-starter' that fails to address Tehran's interests or soften Washington's stance on uranium enrichment. 'Iran is drafting a negative response to the U.S. proposal, which could be interpreted as a rejection of the U.S. offer,' the senior diplomat, who is close to Iran's negotiating team, told Reuters. The U.S. proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on Saturday by Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, who was on a short visit to Tehran and has been mediating talks between Tehran and Washington. After five rounds of discussions between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, several obstacles remain. Iran says it could survive if U.S. nuclear talks end without a deal Among them are Iran's rejection of a U.S. demand that it commit to scrapping uranium enrichment and its refusal to ship abroad its entire existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium - possible raw material for nuclear bombs. Tehran says it wants to master nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and has long denied accusations by Western powers that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. 'In this proposal, the U.S. stance on enrichment on Iranian soil remains unchanged, and there is no clear explanation regarding the lifting of sanctions,' said the diplomat, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. Araqchi said Tehran would formally respond to the proposal soon. The White House encouraged Iran to accept the deal. 'President Trump has made it clear that Iran can never obtain a nuclear bomb. Special Envoy Witkoff has sent a detailed and acceptable proposal to the Iranian regime, and it's in their best interest to accept it,' White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. 'Out of respect for the ongoing deal, the Administration will not comment on details of the proposal to the media.' Tehran demands the immediate removal of all U.S.-imposed curbs that impair its oil-based economy. But the U.S. says nuclear-related sanctions should be removed in phases. Dozens of institutions vital to Iran's economy, including its central bank and national oil company, have been blacklisted since 2018 for, according to Washington, 'supporting terrorism or weapons proliferation.' Trump's revival of 'maximum pressure' against Tehran since his return to the White House in January has included tightening sanctions and threatening to bomb Iran if the negotiations yield no deal. During his first term in 2018, Trump ditched Tehran's 2015 nuclear pact with six powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy. Iran responded by escalating enrichment far beyond the pact's limits. Under the deal, Iran had until 2018 curbed its sensitive nuclear work in return for relief from U.S., EU and U.N. economic sanctions. The diplomat said the assessment of 'Iran's nuclear negotiations committee', under the supervision of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was that the U.S. proposal was 'completely one-sided' and could not serve Tehran's interests. Therefore, the diplomat said, Tehran considers this proposal a 'non-starter' and believes it unilaterally attempts to impose a 'bad deal' on Iran through excessive demands. The stakes are high for both sides. Trump wants to curtail Tehran's potential to produce a nuclear weapon that could trigger a regional nuclear arms race and perhaps threaten Israel. Iran's clerical establishment, for its part, wants to be rid of the devastating sanctions. 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. Two Iranian officials told Reuters last week that Iran could pause uranium enrichment if the U.S. released frozen Iranian funds and recognised Tehran's right to refine uranium for civilian use under a 'political deal' that could lead to a broader nuclear accord. Iran's arch-foe Israel, which sees Iran's nuclear programme as an existential threat, has repeatedly threatened to bomb the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Araqchi, in a joint news conference with his Egyptian counterpart in Cairo, said: 'I do not think Israel will commit such a mistake as to attack Iran.' Tehran's regional influence has meanwhile been diminished by military setbacks suffered by its forces and those of its allies in the Shi'ite-dominated 'Axis of Resistance', which include Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen, and Iraqi militias. In April, Saudi Arabia's defence minister delivered a blunt message to Iranian officials to take Trump's offer of a new deal seriously as a way to avoid the risk of war with Israel. (Additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Jeff Mason in WashingtonWriting by Parisa Hafezi, Editing by William Maclean and Rod Nickel)
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Iran on brink of rejecting US proposal on nuclear programme
Iran is on the brink of rejecting US proposals on the future of its nuclear programme after the US draft insisted that Tehran would have to suspend the enrichment of uranium inside Iran and set out no clear route map for lifting US economic sanctions. The US proposals were the first in written form since five rounds of indirect talks started, but Iranian diplomatic sources said the US proposals gave no ground on Iran's demand to continue to enrich uranium inside the country. 'Iran is drafting a negative response to the US proposal, which could be interpreted as a rejection of the US offer,' a senior Iranian diplomat told Reuters. The US proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on Saturday by Omani foreign minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, who was on a short visit to Tehran and has been mediating talks between Tehran and Washington. A complete breakdown in the talks would trigger European moves to impose heavier UN sanctions on Iran and a possible joint US-Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites, a move that could see Iran in turn launch reprisals. Faced by such a catastrophe, Iran is likely to try to temper its response to the US plans so that further talks are possible. The best compromise available would a US statement that Iran in principle is permitted to enrich uranium but in practice will not do so, at least inside Iran, for an indefinite period. The US has said it would allow Iran to join a Middle East consortium to enrich uranium, in conjunction with Saudi Arabia, but this could not take place on Iranian soil. A regional consortium for a civil nuclear program would require huge trust between the countries involved and continued external inspection. At one point it seemed that Donald Trump would allow Iranian enrichment at low levels so long as US inspectors – not just UN teams – were given access to Iran's nuclear sites, but that solution seems to be fading. Speaking on a visit to Cairo, the Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi revealed little about the progress of the talks, but said Iran would be replying to the US proposals shortly. Iran did suspend enrichment for two years from November 2003, but in 2005 it rejected the European plan to use imported low-enriched nuclear fuel for its reactors. In Egypt Araghchi met with Raphael Grossi, the director of the UN nuclear inspectorate the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), expressing his displeasure at a draft IAEA report prepared for the agency's next board meeting that highlights how Iran has continued to enrich uranium at high levels of purity contrary to the agreement the nation signed in 2015. France, Germany and the UK intend to use the report to press for a board vote leading to UN sanctions being reimposed in September. The Iranians claim the draft IAEA report contains nothing surprising or new, but accuse the west of pressurising the inspectorate to develop an increasingly propagandistic tone. The report found that Iran carried out secret nuclear activities with material not declared to the UN nuclear watchdog at three locations that have long been under investigation. Araghchi said: 'Western pressures should not affect the IAEA and the IAEA must maintain its independent and technical identity. Some countries want to put pressure on Iran through the IAEA, and we hope that the IAEA will not fall into this trap.' He added: 'Iran's enrichment is completely peaceful and a scientific achievement that we have achieved through our scientists. The Iranian nation has paid heavy prices to achieve this achievement, and the blood of a number of our nuclear scientists has been shed for this issue. 'If the goal of the negotiations is to ensure that Iran does not seek to obtain nuclear weapons, we can reach an agreement in this regard, but if unacceptable and unrealistic goals are pursued in this regard and the goal is to deprive Iran of peaceful nuclear activities, there will definitely be no agreement.' Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy commission, said: 'If a proposal is based on ignoring the principle of enrichment, it is not at all presentable, not acceptable, not admissible, not worthy of attention, and not negotiable.'
Asharq Al-Awsat
24-05-2025
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Iran, US See Hope for Progress After Fifth Round of Nuclear Talks
Iranian and US delegations wrapped up a fifth round of talks in Rome on Friday and signs of some limited progress emerged in the 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 talks. "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." A senior US official said the talks lasted more than two hours and were both direct and indirect with Omani mediators. "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. We are grateful to our Omani partners for their continued facilitation," the official said. 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. Tehran, for its part, wants to be rid of devastating sanctions on its oil-based economy. 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." 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 program. Diplomats have said reaching a concrete deal before the summer would technically be impossible given the complexities of an accord. In the meantime, a senior Iranian official involved in nuclear talks with the US said "if Washington drops its 'zero enrichment' demand, a political agreement is feasible." STUMBLING BLOCKS US 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 program but not enrich uranium, while acknowledging that this "will not be easy". Iranian Supreme Leader 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. 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 US sanctions that continue to hobble the Iranian economy. Iran responded by escalating enrichment far beyond the 2015 pact's limits. Wendy Sherman, a former US undersecretary who led the US 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 program, 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 program 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 US 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.
