by Reuters
This comes after the Trump administration told Iran that it expects the Iranian delegation to arrive at their next meeting “with meaningful substance," sources told the Post.
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Nuclear talks with the United States last week were primarily meant to gauge Washington's "seriousness", Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Tuesday, adding that the brief encounter showed enough understanding to pursue discussions despite distrust.
"The Muscat meeting was not a long meeting. In our view, it was to gauge the seriousness of the other side and how to continue this path," Baghaei said.
"After the talks, we felt there was understanding and consensus to continue the diplomatic process."
The spokesperson said that Ali Larijani, an advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader, planned a trip to Oman on Tuesday to follow up on regional consultations and that Larijani would then travel to Qatar.
Regarding the Israeli Prime Minister's expected trip to Washington on Wednesday, Baghaei said the US "must act independently of foreign pressures, especially Israeli pressures that ignore the interests of the region and even the US."
US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and US Central Command Chief Adm. Brad Cooper met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and other Iranian senior officials in Oman on Friday.
The Trump administration has told Iran that it expects the Iranian delegation, led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, to arrive at their next meeting “with meaningful substance,” two people familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
After the talks, US President Donald Trump announced that another meeting would take place "early next week."
Iran nuclear talks to resume, Trump says
"They want to make a deal," Trump said of Iran, adding that Tehran's leadership knows that "if they don’t make a deal, the consequences will be very steep."
The president stated that the two nations "are in no rush" to reach an understanding and that the US has to get "in position" for an agreement, but that he'd "love to see" a deal made.
While some Iranian officials have said that Iran could agree to dilute its stockpile of 60% enriched uranium in exchange for the lifting of all sanctions imposed against its nuclear program, Araghchi previously insisted that a complete halt to uranium enrichment is absolutely unacceptable to Iran.
“The discussions should focus on scenarios in which uranium enrichment continues, alongside assurances that the enrichment is solely for peaceful purposes,” he said.
He also said that the missile issue and the “regional arena,” i.e., Iran’s proxies, were off the agenda for the negotiations.
“The subject of the negotiations is the nuclear issue, and that is how it will remain,” he said.
Amichai Stein, Shoshana Baker, and Goldie Katz contributed to this report.
Reuters
Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-886185
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