Iran and the United States reached an understanding on the main “guiding principles” in a second round of nuclear talks in Geneva on Tuesday but work still needs to be done, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said.
The progress does not mean an agreement will be reached soon but the path has started, he told Iranian media after the talks concluded.
Iranian state media reported earlier that Iran would temporarily shut part of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global oil supply route, as it held talks over its nuclear programme with the United States, which has sent a battle force to the Gulf region to press Tehran to make concessions.
US president Donald Trump has said “regime change” in Tehran may be the best thing that can happen, while Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that any US attempts to depose his government would fail.
READ MORE
Just as the talks got under way in Geneva, Iranian state media reported that parts of the strategic strait would close for a few hours due to “security precautions” while Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards conducted military drills there.
Tehran has in the past threatened to shut down the strait to commercial shipping if it is attacked, a move that would choke off a fifth of global oil flows and drive up crude prices.
Alongside Araqchi, US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner took part in the Geneva talks, which were being mediated by Oman, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters.
Trump, speaking on Monday aboard Air Force One, said he would be involved in the talks “indirectly” and that they’d be “very important”. He emphasised that Iran wanted to make a deal because they would not want the consequences of not making a deal.
Trump has ordered a build-up of US forces in the region – including two aircraft carriers – after saying last month he would aid antigovernment demonstrators in Iran. The Iranian government subsequently quelled those protests in a bloody crackdown that killed thousands, according to rights groups.
Trump then called on Iran to reach an immediate accord or else face the threat of a possible attack. Last week, Trump wrote on social media that he preferred a deal with Iran, but if one could not be brokered, “we will just have to see what the outcome will be”.
[ As US sends second aircraft carrier to Middle East, how likely is war with Iran?Opens in new window ]
Regional countries worry that a potential American strike, and Iranian retaliation that could draw in Israel, could destabilise the Middle East and endanger US allies in the Arab world that host American soldiers.
US officials have said the talks with Iran must also deal with the country’s ballistic missile programme and support for proxy militias across the Middle East.
But while Iran’s leaders say they are willing to talk about their nuclear programme, they have shown little interest in budging on the other issues.
Araghchi was already in Switzerland on Monday to meet the foreign minister of Oman, which hosted a first round of negotiations between Tehran and the United States this month. Araghchi said on social media that he was in Geneva “with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal”.
“What is not on the table: submission before threats,” he added.
Nonetheless, the Iranian government is under considerable pressure to agree to a deal. Iran’s economy has struggled under crippling international sanctions, which helped ignite the latest wave of protests against the country’s authoritarian government.
Last year, US and Iranian officials tried to negotiate a deal that would end the sanctions in exchange for an end to Iranian nuclear enrichment. The talks were ultimately unsuccessful. Instead, Israel launched a military campaign against the Iranian nuclear programme, leading to a 12-day-war between the two countries.
US stealth bombers later joined the Israeli assault, attacking three Iranian nuclear sites. Trump initially said that the US bombing had obliterated Iran’s nuclear programme, but American intelligence later found that it had been badly damaged, not destroyed. – Reuters/New York
Times
