Tehran hardline daily hits back: US is crumbling, not Iran

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp on Tuesday praised Oman’s role in facilitating nuclear talks between the United States and Iran, following a meeting in the Netherlands with his Omani counterpart, Badr al-Busaidi.

“Good to host my colleague Badr al-Busaidi and discuss Oman’s important role in the region, including facilitating the nuclear talks between the US and Iran,” Veldkamp wrote on X.

He added that they also discussed prospects for a ceasefire in Gaza and broader regional developments.

Veldkamp thanked Oman for its assistance in consular affairs and said the Omani state visit reaffirmed long-standing bilateral ties. “The state visit of Oman to the Netherlands reaffirms the strong bond between our countries, founded on a shared maritime history and 400 years of friendship,” he wrote.

A member of Iran's parliamentary economic committee said that indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States are disrupting the business of a small number of people who oppose dialogue.

Ahmad Anaraki-Mohammadi told Rouydad24 news website that the lives of 85 million Iranians should not be affected for the sake of what he described as profiteers of sanctions.

The lawmaker argued that the ongoing indirect talks are upsetting the financial interests of a small group within Iran whose "bread is being turned to brick," a local idiom signifying their livelihoods are being destroyed. "The lives of 85 million Iranians are not supposed to be sacrificed for the sake of this limited number," he asserted.

Iran’s Javan newspaper, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, said Tehran could reach a limited nuclear agreement with the United States without compromising its revolutionary ideals or anti-imperialist stance.

“Maybe Iran does not want the image of a 'fighter against imperialism' that has formed in the world’s mind over the past half-century to be erased — but who says that if the agreement is limited to lifting sanctions in exchange for reducing enrichment, that image will be erased?” the editorial said.

Javan also dismissed the idea that any negotiations with the US inevitably lead to normalization or surrender, calling such views exaggerated. It said a partial agreement was plausible, even if some aspects of it remained undisclosed.

The Kremlin on Tuesday declined to comment on whether Russia would be willing to take Iran’s enriched uranium as part of a potential future nuclear deal with the United States, according to Reuters.

The Guardian reported earlier that Tehran is expected to reject a US proposal to transfer its uranium stockpile to a third country, such as Russia, under a plan aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear programme.

Russia was a signatory to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which US President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018.

Iran's Supreme Leader has expressed a mix of cautious optimism and profound skepticism regarding the ongoing talks with the United States, dismissing the talks as only one of Foreign Ministry’s dozens of tasks.

"We are neither extremely optimistic nor extremely pessimistic about these talks," he said, adding however that “we are very pessimistic about the other side, but we are optimistic about our own capabilities."

Khamenei added, "Ultimately, it is a task and a move that has been decided upon, and the initial steps have been implemented well.”

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