TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragci is scheduled to visit Oman for indirect consultations with Washington, giving President Donald Trump the opportunity to give new life to the nuclear deal he unraveled in 2018.
Speaking to Iranian national television on the sidelines of an official trip to Algeria, Araguchi said future indirect negotiations could ultimately lead to an agreement, leading to conditions that would show goodwill and seriousness for Washington. “We currently prefer that negotiations are indirectly happening and have no plans to change this approach,” the top diplomat said, “We should state it clearly. The ball is in the American courts. If there is serious will, the path to agreement is clear.”
A new round of debate follows Trump’s dismantling the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan (JCPOA). After withdrawing from the contract in 2018, Trump reinstated sanctions, with the JCPOA claiming Iran was insufficient to prevent the development of nuclear weapons. His then-secretary of State also called for the country to cut missile and drone programs and cut ties with regional resistance groups.
Trump’s actions during his first term, which he called the “maximum pressure campaign,” took a major blow to Iran’s economy and the livelihoods of its citizens. However, the campaign failed to affect Iran’s nuclear, military or regional activities. Over the past few years, Tehran has achieved unprecedented advancements in its nuclear program, unveiling new cutting-edge weapons and deepened its commitment to supporting the Union resistance of West Asia.
Since returning to the White House in January, the US president has used the threat of military power to pressure Iran to negotiate a new contract. Iranian officials responded strongly, citing their lack of trust in Washington based on warnings of a harsh response to past deals and attacks on their interests.
Tehran agreed to engage in indirect consultations after sending a letter to the leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei last month, but sources telling the Tehran Times show that these debates will be strictly restricted to the nuclear issue.
“We are totally confident that the (nuclear) programme is peaceful, so there is no problem building trust unless restrictions are placed on us that are against the national interest,” Araguchi said while in Algeria. “The sanctions unfairly imposed on Iran on the basis of unfounded accusations must be removed. This issue is our main purpose in negotiations.”
Iran was sticking to its commitment under the JCPOA when Washington unilaterally waived the agreement. In 2020, it began to scale back some of its commitments after it became clear that European signatories of the deal could not take away our sanctions. Despite the acceleration of the nuclear program, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that Tehran is not yet heading towards nuclear development.
Unless the US faces the fact that it simply cannot determine terms with Iran, the outlook for a new contract remains dim. To get a deal, you must respect and respect the boundaries that Tehran has clearly established. The West Asian nation has repeatedly stated that demands on military capabilities or alliances are complete non-starters.
In an opinion piece released by the Washington Post on Tuesday, Aragut said the US must understand that military action against Iran is not an option either. “To move forward today, we must first agree that there is no “military choice,” not to mention “military choice.” Officials said attacks on Iran would risk the lives of thousands of American soldiers, abandon trillions of taxpayer dollars, and bring “devastating” consequences across the region.
The US appears to have left some of its incompromising for now, given it succumbing to indirect negotiations and Iran’s demands for Omani mediation. Trump initially called for a direct meeting, offered the United Arab Emirates as a mediator and delivered letters to Iranian leaders via Emirati’s diplomats.
However, this obvious swivel does not guarantee that it will illustrate a new path, as evidenced by Trump’s recent attempts to distort the nature of future negotiations. At a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, he argued that consultations will be held directly between Iran and the United States. He argued that this was a lie that was widely interpreted as a continuation of Washington’s efforts to sow discord within Iran and portray the United States as an active “initiator.” The president previously published his letter to Iran before it was delivered.