Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi has said that “good progress” has been made in indirect nuclear talks with the United States, as Washington warned that military action remains an option if diplomacy fails.
The talks, mediated by Oman, were held in the Swiss city of Geneva on Tuesday against a backdrop of increased military flexing by both sides in the Gulf region.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 items
- list 1 of 4US and Iran reach ‘guiding principles’ in Geneva nuclear talks
- list 2 of 4Iran’s Khamenei maintains tough rhetoric with US despite nuclear talks
- list 3 of 4Iran’s Khamenei says US will not be able to destroy government
- list 4 of 4Trump urges Iran to make nuclear deal saying he’ll be ‘indirectly’ involved
end of list
“Ultimately, we were able to reach broad agreement on a set of guiding principles, based on which we will move forward and begin working on the text of a potential agreement,” Araghchi told state television after the talks.
“Good progress” has been made, compared with the previous round in Oman earlier this month, he said, adding, “We now have a clear path ahead, which I think is positive.”
He acknowledged that it “will take time to narrow” the gap between the countries, and said that once both sides come up with draft texts for an agreement, “the drafts would be exchanged and a date for a third round [of talks] would be set”.
In Washington, DC, US Vice President JD Vance also appeared to indicate that his country preferred diplomacy, but painted a more mixed picture.
“In some ways, it went well; they agreed to meet afterwards,” Vance said in a Fox News interview.
“But in other ways, it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through,” Vance told The Story with Martha MacCallum programme.
“We’re going to keep on working it. But of course, the president reserves the ability to say when he thinks that diplomacy has reached its natural end,” Vance said.
Stumbling blocks
Iran has for years sought relief from sweeping sanctions imposed by the US, including a Washington-imposed ban on other countries buying its oil.
Tehran has said it wants the ongoing talks to focus on its uranium enrichment programme, insisting that any deal must deliver tangible economic benefit to Iran while maintaining its sovereignty and national security.
Washington has demanded that Iran forgo uranium enrichment on its soil, and has sought to expand the scope of talks to non-nuclear issues, such as Tehran’s missile stockpile.
Iran has said it will not accept zero uranium enrichment and that its missile capabilities are off the table.
The talks come amid high tensions in the Gulf, with the US deploying two aircraft carriers to the region. The first – the USS Abraham Lincoln, with nearly 80 aircraft – was positioned about 700km (435 miles) fr