TEHRAN – A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry said Iran did not refuse to negotiate directly with the US, as Iran could skirt such involvement based on ideology. Rather, it made no sense to speak face to face while Washington continued to sanction, threaten and blackmail Iran.
Esmail Baghaei made a comment in an interview with Iranian television. There, he described the indirect Saturday discussion between Iran and the US as “positive.”
“We believe that indirect negotiations provide the most effective pathway to solving the sanctions issue,” Baghaei explained, adding, “Direct negotiations are counterproductive in the face of threats, sanctions and threats. There is no ideological basis for this position.”
The Iranian delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi and the American delegation led by US envoys sat in a two-and-a-half-hour independent hall for two-and-a-half hours as Oman’s top diplomats acted as intermediaries. The next round of talks will also be held in Muscat next week, but other potentials may take place elsewhere if agreed. Oman will remain as a mediator regardless, Baghaei announced.
The parties are negotiating Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s nuclear programme has faced an uncertain future since US President Donald Trump left the International Agreement (JCPOA) on the issue in 2018 and regained sanctions that were lifted under the contract. The president returned to the White House in January this year, hoping to force Tehran to accept military and foreign policy restrictions. He linked unprecedented economic pressures to the occasional threat of military action. The last threat was the first time last month, claiming that if Trump refused to seal the New Deal, something “very bad” would happen to Iran.
Although Iran has not had any discussion about the nuclear program or military and foreign policy, Trump has shown flexibility in late March, and in a letter sent by diplomats of the Islamic Revolution by Emirati, he hopes to discuss Tehran’s nuclear programme only and rule out other issues.
In an interview on Sunday, Bagihai reaffirmed Araguchi’s previous remarks, describing the first round of negotiations as “positive” and “constructive.”