Congressman urges dismantling of Iranian nuclear, missile programs

"The venue for the second round of talks is Rome. Wherever the venue for the talks is, Oman is the mediator and intermediary," Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs Kazem Gharibabadi told state TV in an interview.

"The reason for changing the venue for the talks was the request of the other side, and we were not sensitive about it," he added, after the first talks were held in Omani capital Muscat.

Gharibabadi appeared to reject the White House's demand yesterday that Iran terminate its nuclear program entirely, saying: "The shutdown of Iran’s enrichment or nuclear industry is not even up for discussion."

"The first round was aimed at assessing whether both sides are serious about reaching an agreement. If the frameworks are agreed upon, the drafting process will begin. Agreement on frameworks is difficult but not impossible—it depends on the other side."

He said the two sides "didn’t address key points in the first round of negotiations, which is why it lasted less than three hours."

"The second round of negotiations will focus on the frameworks of the issues," Gharibabadi continued. "We told the other side we are not looking to waste time."

"If the other side enters the second round like they did in Muscat, reaching an agreement won’t take long; but for now, it’s too soon to judge," adding that it was too soon to include the UN nuclear watchdog in talks.

IAEA director-general Rafael Grossi described his meeting with Abbas Araghchi as “important” and said, "Cooperation with @IAEAorg is indispensable to provide credible assurances about the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program at a time when diplomacy is urgently needed."

Their meeting comes three days before the second round of talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

"Iran is desperate to remain sort of a key player on the world stage, and sees that nuclear is the only way to do that," said Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former commanding officer of the UK's Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment.

"However, they're also, I'm sure, well aware of the ability of the Americans and potentially the Israelis to stop their nuclear program," he told the BBC in an interview on Wednesday.

Trump's push for a deal "might well be successful," he added. "But of course, one would hope that a treaty and negotiation is the best way to reduce the threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon, rather than ... further conflict in the region."

Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the UN nuclear watchdog, arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for talks with Iranian officials ahead of a second round of negotiations between Tehran and Washington, according to Iranian media reports.

Grossi met Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and deputy nuclear chief Behrouz Kamalvandi.

Talk show host Mark Levin argued against "another diplomatic solution with an Islamist-Nazi Regime," in a lengthy post on X.

"I’ve great faith in President Trump. Not in some of those trying to pressure him to appease the Iranians, and who none of us voted for and who most Americans know nothing about," in an apparent reference to Trump's advisors.

"I support the President completely when he says no nukes for Iran, I know he means it. We should immediately rally around him and his declaration and let him know we agree. No nukes for Iran. No “peace in our time” phony declarations being urged on him. Either Iran provably and immediately dismantles its development of nuclear weapons or we will do it for them," he added.

Quoting the post, Texas senator Ted Cruz said: "The great @marklevinshow is exactly right. Anyone urging Trump to enter into another Obama Iran deal is giving the President terrible advice."

"@realDonaldTrump is entirely correct when he says Iran will NEVER be allowed to have nukes. His team should be 100% unified behind that," he added.

Another outspoken critic of Tehran, Arkansas senator Tom Cotton, said: "This is correct ... As President Trump said, the only solution is Iran completely dismantling its program, or we should do it for them."

"Allowing this maniacal terrorist regime to threaten America and the world with a nuclear weapon is unacceptable. Those who minimize the risk of this regime are dead wrong."