US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had yet to make a decision on renaming the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf in official US parlance but would announce his decision during an upcoming trip to the Middle East.
"I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings," Trump added.
With the hawks in Washington pushing for a tougher stance on Iran, and the talks appearing to lose some positive initial momentum after three rounds, a sense of urgency about a potential deal appears to be taking hold in Tehran.
Former officials and media pundits are urging a swift agreement with the United States, warning that delays could harden President Trump’s position or allow regional developments to close the door on diplomacy.
“Time is certainly working against us this time. Reaching an agreement today is better than doing so tomorrow,” former minister Abbas Akhundi said in an interview with moderate daily Etemad on Monday.
“Trump is an opportunity if you understand his logic and act at the right time,” Akhundi added. “He is not someone who will be willing to negotiate forever … so we must be able to conclude the negotiations in a short time.”
Such bold statements on a potential thaw with the US are tolerated, if not encouraged, because supreme leader Ali Khamenei has not only endorsed the negotiations but also hushed its hardline opponents with his customary cryptic messaging.
Any viable nuclear deal would require significant concessions on Iran’s part. Khamenei needs to make those palatable to the loyalists who back him in the face of growing popular discontent. The longer the process the harder his task will become.
Regional developments are also a factor. Ceasefires in the Middle East often last not as long as the wars they tend to end.
Akhundi touched on this too in his Monday interview: “Israel is certainly unhappy about the possibility of a deal and may try to obstruct an agreement through psychological warfare, targeted assassinations, and cyber-attacks,” he warned.
Former conservative MP Mahmood Abbaszadeh Meshkini echoed the urgency while calling for a more proactive strategy.
“Trump is not interested in starting a war with Iran,” Mashkini told Khabar Online, urging the decision-makers in Tehran to take the lead in shaping the agenda.
Like many conservatives who have jumped ship on talks, Meshkini backed the official line and even went as far to hint at the rift between the rulers and the ruled as a hindrance for Iran advancing its interests abroad.
Another conservative commentator Mohammad Mohajeri charted another territory previously unnavigable: concessions.
“Eventually, both sides might come to accept that some red lines are also open to negotiation,” he told the outlet Rouydad24 briefly—and somewhat daringly—before quickly qualifying his remarks, perhaps to guard against criticism for his plain speech.
“However, if the other side demands that enrichment in Iran be reduced to zero or that our peaceful nuclear activities be entirely shut down, that is certainly unacceptable,” he added.
Tehran’s official position has remained constant during negotiations with Washington: low levels of enrichment are non-negotiable. On the other side, however, the stance seems to have hardened as president Trump and others in his team talk about Iran’s nuclear program being dismantled altogether.
The apparent sense of urgency reflected in Iranian media this week may have a thing or two to do with this.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday his administration has not yet decided whether to agree to uranium enrichment in Iran but will soon.
A reporter in the White House asked, "Is it the US position that Iran can have an enrichment program as long as it doesn't reach a weapons program?"
Trump responded: "We haven't made that decision yet. We will, but we haven't made that decision yet."
Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday dismissed reports suggesting that President Masoud Pezeshkian may meet with Donald Trump in Riyadh or that Tehran has proposed direct negotiations with Washington, calling them “baseless fabrications.”
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said that any updates on the status of what he called indirect talks with the United States would be shared in a “transparent, professional and timely” manner by the ministry.
The denial comes after a report by the Israeli news outlet Ynet, which said that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had contacted Steve Witkoff, the US representative in the negotiations, and proposed direct talks over nuclear issues.
Meanwhile, Kioumars Yazdanpanah, a political analyst frequently featured on Iranian state TV, raised the possibility that negotiating teams from Iran and the United States may have reached a “preliminary tacit agreement.” He also suggested there was a chance that Trump and Pezeshkian could meet in Riyadh.
US Vice President J.D. Vance said on Wednesday that Iran must not be allowed to enrich uranium to levels that would enable it to develop nuclear weapons—remarks that may be seen as an apparent nod to Iran’s insistence on maintaining low-level enrichment.
"They can have civil nuclear power. OK, we don't mind that, but... no one right now has a civil nuclear program with their entire enrichment infrastructure that can enrich to the 90-plus percent needed to get to fissile material and a nuclear weapon," Vance said at the Munich Security Conference in Washington DC.
Vance said the Trump administration has no problem with Iran having nuclear power.
"We're fine with that. But you can't have the kind of enrichment program that allows you to get to a nuclear weapon, and that's where we draw the line," he said.
The United States and Iran appear to be on a collision course over whether Tehran should be allowed to enrich uranium in any nuclear deal between the two arch-foes, potentially endangering talks headed for a fourth round this weekend.
Last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "there’s a pathway to a civil, peaceful nuclear program if they want one, but if they insist on enriching, then they will be the only country in the world that doesn’t have a 'weapons program,' quote-unquote, but is enriching. And so I think that’s problematic."
The UN nuclear watchdog said last month that Iran is only non-nuclear armed state enriching uranium to 60%. Several countries which do not possess nuclear weapons, including Japan, Brazil, Germany and the Netherlands, enrich uranium at lower levels.
In his Wednesday remarks, Vance said his country is seeking a deal with Iran that would not only completely eliminate the possibility of it acquiring a nuclear weapon but also pave the way for Tehran’s return to the global economy.
"We think that there is a deal here that would reintegrate Iran into the global economy. That would be really good for the Iranian people, but would result in the complete cessation of any chance that they could get a nuclear weapon,"
"That's what we're negotiating towards."
Vance said the Trump administration has been "very happy by how the Iranians have responded to some of the points that we have made" in the Omani-mediated talks.
"Without prejudging the negotiations, I will say so far so good... We've been very happy that some of the intermediaries and some of the folks who are in the room, the role that they've played, the Omanis in particular, have played a very positive role, and we're very grateful to that."
He said "so far we're on the right pathway. But this is going to end somewhere. And it will end either in Iran eliminating their nuclear program, their nuclear weapons program."
US Vice President J.D. Vance said on Wednesday that Iran must not be allowed to enrich uranium to levels that would enable it to develop nuclear weapons—remarks that may be seen as an apparent nod to Iran’s insistence on maintaining low-level enrichment.
"They can have civil nuclear power. OK, we don't mind that, but... no one right now has a civil nuclear program with their entire enrichment infrastructure that can enrich to the 90-plus percent needed to get to fissile material and a nuclear weapon," Vance said at the Munich Security Conference in Washington DC.
Vance said the Trump administration has no problem with Iran having nuclear power.
"We're fine with that. But you can't have the kind of enrichment program that allows you to get to a nuclear weapon, and that's where we draw the line," he said.
The United States and Iran appear to be on a collision course over whether Tehran should be allowed to enrich uranium in any nuclear deal between the two arch-foes, potentially endangering talks headed for a fourth round this weekend.
Last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "there’s a pathway to a civil, peaceful nuclear program if they want one, but if they insist on enriching, then they will be the only country in the world that doesn’t have a 'weapons program,' quote-unquote, but is enriching. And so I think that’s problematic."
The UN nuclear watchdog said last month that Iran is only non-nuclear armed state enriching uranium to 60%. Several countries which do not possess nuclear weapons, including Japan, Brazil, Germany and the Netherlands, enrich uranium at lower levels.
In his Wednesday remarks, Vance said his country is seeking a deal with Iran that would not only completely eliminate the possibility of it acquiring a nuclear weapon but also pave the way for Tehran’s return to the global economy.
"We think that there is a deal here that would reintegrate Iran into the global economy. That would be really good for the Iranian people, but would result in the complete cessation of any chance that they could get a nuclear weapon,"
"That's what we're negotiating towards."
Vance said the Trump administration has been "very happy by how the Iranians have responded to some of the points that we have made" in the Omani-mediated talks.
"Without prejudging the negotiations, I will say so far so good... We've been very happy that some of the intermediaries and some of the folks who are in the room, the role that they've played, the Omanis in particular, have played a very positive role, and we're very grateful to that."
He said "so far we're on the right pathway. But this is going to end somewhere. And it will end either in Iran eliminating their nuclear program, their nuclear weapons program."