Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
CNN
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The US and Iran concluded their third round of nuclear talks on Saturday. This is described by experts as a more difficult stage in technical negotiations when Washington sets its terms.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araguchi said, “The negotiations were much more serious than the previous negotiations. We were engaged in technical conversations at a more detailed and professional level. The expert conversations also worked.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that the US would not enrich Iran’s own nuclear material, but rather import the nuclear fuel — uranium — needed for its civilian energy program. Iran has repeatedly stated that the right to enrich uranium is unnegotiable.
Both the US and Iran have described previous talks as positive if Tehran fails to accept the deal despite President Donald Trump’s threat to the US and Israel’s military attacks.
However, talks on Saturday are expected to include negotiations on details of Iran’s nuclear program, a region where Tehran and Washington remain largely divided.
“There are still differences in the main issues and details. Until the next lecture, we will have a conversation in the capital to see how to undo these differences.”
Omani Foreign Minister Bador bin Hamad al-Busaidi said talks will continue next week.
This is what we know.
In 2015, nuclear deals were reached between Iran and the world powers, including Iran. The US had agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions that have crippled the economy.
The 2015 deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), allowed Iran to enrich uranium at a level that ensures that only the nuclear programme will be in peace.
That agreement was abandoned by Trump in 2018 during his first presidential term. Iran retaliated by promoting uranium enrichment to a purity of up to 60%, close to the approximately 90% level required to make the bomb.
Iran claims its nuclear program will remain peaceful.
Last month, Trump sent a letter to Iran’s top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei suggesting negotiations on a new nuclear deal, revealing that Iran had a two-month deadline for him to agree to the new contract.
What does Trump want and what is the key issue?
The president wants a “stronger” contract with Iran than what reached 2015 under the Obama administration, but US officials said they have flipped over demands over the past month.
It remains unclear whether Iran is requesting the US to completely dismantle its nuclear program, including civil energy components, to prevent the development of nuclear weapons, or whether it will allow such programs if Iran abandons its domestic uranium enrichment.
This month, Trump’s envoy to Iranian talks, Steve Witkov said Iran doesn’t need to enrich uranium beyond what it needs in its nuclear energy program. He stopped asking Iran to stop enriching uranium completely or to dismantle its nuclear program.
He overturned his position a day later in a statement on X, saying that the final contract with Iran would require “stop and eliminate nuclear enrichment and weaponization programs.”
Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses has called on Tehran to completely dismantle its nuclear program.
Then in an interview Wednesday, Rubio said Iran could create a private nuclear program, but must import nuclear fuel, rather than producing it domestically.
“If they want that, there’s a path to a civic, peaceful nuclear program,” Rubio told the freelance press. “But if they insist on enrichment (uranium), they will be the only country in the world that has no “weapon program” but is rich. And I think that’s a problem. ”
Most countries that enrich uranium within the country also have nuclear weapons programs, but not others. For example, Brazil is enriching some uranium in the country for its energy programme, according to the World Nuclear Association. Meanwhile, the UK-Ducci Nuclear Fuel Consortium Urenko operates enriched plants in Germany and the Netherlands, but neither of them have nuclear weapons. These countries, like Iran, are parties to the United Nations Treaty on the Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
Last week, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Saudi Arabia’s New York Times that Riyadh and Washington were on a “path” to reach an agreement that would allow the kingdom to enrich uranium.
“The problem is controlling delicate technology. Is there a solution that involves enrichment here in Saudi Arabia? Yes,” he said.
Iran doubled its right to enrich uranium and accused the Trump administration of sending mixed signals.
“Iran’s enrichment (programme) is a realistic and genuine issue, ready to build confidence on potential concerns, but the enrichment issue is unnegotiable,” said Foreign Minister Abbas Aragci, who represents Iran at the nuclear talks, cited as a press conference on a state-run Iranian broadcaster.
Tehran discussed “red lines,” including the Trump administration’s “blackmail language” and “overreaching demands on Iran’s nuclear program.” The US must also refrain from raising issues related to Iran’s defense industry, said Iranian media likely to refer to ballistic missile programs that US Middle Eastern allies view as a threat to their security.
Meanwhile, Iran’s finest leadership is approaching consultation with great caution. In his first comment on the issue, Khamenei said that Tehran was “not overly optimistic or overly pessimistic” about the negotiations with the US.
The Islamic Republic also sought to present a potential nuclear deal that would be beneficial to the United States. This week, Araghchi touted the possibility that US companies could play a role in Iran’s nuclear program, pledging “billions of dollars in potential contracts.”
In addition to the high-level talk between Araguchi and Witkov on Saturday, the technical team will begin to cast details of the potential agreement.
Michael Anton, head of policy planning for the State Department, will lead the technology team from the US side, spokesman Tammy Bruce said Thursday.
The team consists of around 12 working-level experts from various US government agencies and will discuss more in-depth details on the path to a new nuclear deal, including relief for potential sanctions and restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program.
Technical consultations are “challenging” as they try to address issues that weren’t pursued in the 2015 deal, according to Trita Parsi, executive vice president of Washington, DC-based Quincy Institute. “This requires technical expertise to make sure these different ideas become practically viable.”
Like the issue of enrichment, complications could emerge if “poison” was introduced, including a demand to completely dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, “Libyan style,” as promoted by Israel.
Libya dismantled its nuclear program in 2003, hopes to lead new ties with the US after a two-year oil embargo against the More Margadafi administration.
After abandoning its nuclear program, Libya overthrew Gadafi’s regime and descended into a civil war after a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that led to his murder. Iranian officials have long warned that similar deals would be rejected from the start.
Another hurdle could emerge if the US demands “permanent” restrictions on Iran’s nuclear programme, Parsi said. “So this isn’t like a normal weapons management contract. (Here) the limit is a time limit and expires over time.”
The 2015 transaction had an expiration date and ended in October 2025 unless otherwise determined by the UN Security Council.
When he withdraws the deal in 2018, Trump denounced the 10-year time limit on his contract, saying “If Iran is fully compliant, the administration is still on the verge of nuclear collapse in a short period of time.”
Parsi said there may be an opportunity to extend the timeline. “But anything that pushes towards a permanent limit towards an infinitive is very likely to fail, perhaps by design.”
Where does Israel stand?
Israel was one of the most solid defenders of Iran’s nuclear programme to completely dismantle its nuclear programme, so that it would never win a nuclear bomb.
Sources familiar with the matter have previously told CNN that news of the US-Iran nuclear talks “certainly not” is Israel’s preference, and it remains unclear whether Netanyahu was given advance notice of negotiations or whether he was consulted.
The only deal Netanyahu considers acceptable is a Libyan-style nuclear deal.
The New York Times reported last week that Trump shook Israel, which had raided Iranian nuclear sites to hold talks with Tehran next month. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office did not deny the truth of the article, claiming instead that Israel’s actions delayed Iran’s nuclear program.
In response to the report, Trump said, “I am not saying I was shaken off,” but “I am not in a hurry because I think Iran has a great country and I have the opportunity to live happily without dying.”