The US presented Iran with a written proposal for a nuclear deal during the fourth round of negotiations in Oman on Sunday, a US official and two other sources with direct knowledge told Walla.
This is the first time the US Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, has delivered a written proposal to the Iranians since nuclear talks began in early April. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi brought the proposal back to Tehran for consultation with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Massoud Pazakhian and other senior officials.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States was getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, and Tehran had “sort of” agreed to the terms. “We’re in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace,” Trump said on a tour of the Gulf, according to a pool report by AFP.
Fresh talks between Iranian and US negotiators to resolve disputes over Tehran’s nuclear program ended in Oman on Sunday with further negotiations planned, officials said, as Tehran publicly insisted on continuing its uranium enrichment.
Iran has not received any fresh proposal from the United States to resolve a decades-long nuclear dispute, a senior Iranian official told Reuters, adding that Tehran would only ship its highly enriched uranium abroad if US sanctions were lifted “verifiably and effectively.”
Though Tehran and Washington have both said they prefer diplomacy to resolve the decades-long nuclear dispute, they remain deeply divided on several red lines that negotiators will have to circumvent to reach a new nuclear deal and avert future military action.
Iran reacted to Trump’s statements
Iran’s president reacted on Thursday to Trump’s comments on Tuesday, calling Tehran the “most destructive force” in the Middle East and contrasting the “collapse and suffering” caused by Iranian leaders with Saudi Arabia’s “constructive vision.”
“Trump thinks he can sanction and threaten us and then talk of human rights. All the crimes and regional instability is caused by them (the United States),” Masoud Pezeshkian said, adding that Tehran wanted peace in contrast to US warmongering.
“Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country. How can we be against them? Trump wants to put Islamic countries on one side and Iran on the other. He wants to create instability inside Iran.”
US officials have publicly stated that Iran should halt uranium enrichment, a stance Iranian officials have called a “red line,” asserting they will not give up what they view as their right to enrich uranium on Iranian soil.
However, they have indicated a willingness to reduce the level of enrichment.
Iranian officials have also expressed readiness to reduce the amount of highly enriched uranium in storage that is enriched beyond the levels typically needed for civilian purposes, such as nuclear power generation.
However, they would not accept lower stockpiles than the amount agreed upon in a deal with world powers in 2015 – the deal Trump quit.
The Iranian source said that while Iran is prepared to offer what it considers concessions, “the issue is that America is not willing to lift major sanctions in exchange.”
Western sanctions have severely impacted the Iranian economy.
Regarding the reduction of enriched uranium in storage, the source noted: “Tehran also wants it removed in several stages, which America doesn’t agree with either.”
There is also disagreement over where the highly enriched uranium would be sent, the source added.
In Saudi Arabia on Tuesday evening, Trump said that he had offered an “olive branch to the Iranians, but stressed that “this is not an offer that will last forever, and the time to make a decision is now.”
This is a developing story.
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