(Bloomberg) – Iran said that it is “time to decide” before Friday’s nuclear interviews with the US, and the main point of gluing is whether Tehran will be able to continue enrichment of uranium.
According to American and Iranian officials, the first four rounds of interviews, mediated by Oman, went widely well. However, Iran insists that any agreement must allow him to continue enrichment, albeit to the low level needed for civilian purposes. Washington gave contradictory reports, sometimes it seemed to be accepting this position and claiming that Iran would not be able to enrich uranium at all.
“To find out the way to the agreement is not a rocket science,” wrote Iranian main negotiator, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, X, before Friday’s meeting in Rome, which is to start at 13:00 local time. “Zero nuclear weapons = we have an agreement. Zero enrichment = we don’t have an agreement.”
Araghchi will take part in Friday’s interviews. It is not clear whether Steve Witkoff will also be there, the main ambassador to the Middle East of US President Donald Trump. He leads negotiations for the US.
Tehran has long said that he does not want to build a nuclear weapon and needs his atomic program only for peaceful purposes, such as nuclear energy. However, Washington and Israel, as well as many European and Arab nations, are cautious that the program could be armed, especially because the Republic of Islam enriches Uranus to a much higher level than it is needed for civilian use – and almost to create an atomic weapon.
Trump was constantly saying he wanted the conversations to succeed. He said he could resort to military strikes in Iran, if they disintegrated, something that would probably increase oil prices and cause a wider conflict in the Middle East.
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he also wants the negotiations to succeed, but that Tehran should be banned from any enrichment. On Thursday he talked to Trump about Iran and said that Israel was closely coordinating the US. He also reiterated that Israel would take military steps against Tehran if he feels it.
“We hope they will achieve an agreement that prevents Iran from achieving nuclear weapons, which means that it denies Iran the ability to enrich uranium,” Netanyahu said. “If it is achieved, of course we would certainly be welcome. In any case, the Israeli state reserves the right to defend itself from a regime that threatens to destroy it.”
After the CNN report this week, which indicated that Israel had increased plans to attack Iran, the Iranian government called on the UN to prevent such a step. Iran said he would consider this responsible for any Israeli strike and promise retaliation.
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(Tagstotranslate) nuclear interviews
