CNN
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US and Iranian leaders painted a positive but careful picture of talks between the nations over Iran’s nuclear program on Saturday after a third phase of discussions in Oman.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragut and US Middle Eastern envoy Steve Witkov led the delegation. Technical experts also held discussions on Iran’s nuclear program and what kind of deals would look like.
“Today’s third talk in Muscat was positive and productive. This latest direct and indirect discussion lasted for four hours. There’s still a lot to do, but we agreed to meet again in Europe.
Experts describe the third meeting as a more difficult stage in technical negotiations as Washington sets its terms.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragci said “there is still differences between the main issues and details,” and said he was “hopefully but cautious” about reaching an agreement.
“This was a very calm and organized environment to encourage conversations. This negotiation was much more serious than previous negotiations. We engaged in technical conversations at a more detailed and professional level.
Saturday’s talks will be held as Tehran and Washington remain sharply divided into details of Iran’s nuclear programme, and are fundamental issues that both sides are trying to resolve. The US and Iranian delegations met for the second round of high-level consultations last Saturday amid optimism about diplomatic methods after the first round was held at Oman Capital Muscat earlier this month.
Omani Foreign Minister Bador bin Hamad al-Busaidi said talks will continue next week.
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.
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.
Iran and the world’s great powers, including the United States, reached nuclear deals in 2015, known as the JCPOA. Under that, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions that have crippled the economy.
Trump waived the agreement 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.
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.