'Iran won’t dismantle nuclear program', says former envoy to Oman

Iran’s delegation participating in the fourth round of talks with the United States in Muscat will act “in accordance with directives and frameworks issued by the country’s decision-making hierarchy” and “spare no effort” to protect the interests of the Iranian people, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei on Sunday.

“The team is committed to preserving Iran’s valuable achievements in peaceful nuclear energy while pursuing the removal of unjust economic sanctions,” he added.

The talks, facilitated by Oman’s foreign minister, are set to begin around noon.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the United States’ positions remain a major obstacle in nuclear negotiations, as he prepared to join a new round of talks in Muscat.

“The Americans have contradictory positions in the negotiations, and this is one of the serious problems in the talks,” Araghchi said. “If there are concerns, we are ready to build trust. We are prepared to take steps that would generate greater confidence.”

He ruled out any compromise on uranium enrichment, saying, “The blood of our nuclear scientists has been shed for enrichment. This right is not negotiable.”

Araghchi confirmed he was departing for the Muscat talks after consultations in Tehran and a regional visit that included stops in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. “We hope this round will reach a decisive point,” he said.

“Our positions are entirely clear, and Iran’s nuclear program is based on a strong legal foundation,” Araghchi added. “All its aspects are peaceful and have always been, and will continue to be, under the supervision of the IAEA.”

Iran’s delegation has arrived in Muscat and is preparing for negotiations with the United States, scheduled to begin around noon, a source familiar with the matter told Tasnim website.

The source added that Oman's foreign minister will determine the meeting location.

Any future talks with the United States should be contingent on an apology from Donald Trump, and should not proceed otherwise, wrote Iran's Kayhan newspaper, which operates under the supervision of a representative of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

It said that US President Donald Trump is “a narcissistic human-like figure more akin to a dictatorial king than a president.”

The paper added that Trump pursued talks with Iran to signal to the Islamic Republic’s proxy forces that “even their model of resistance against arrogance ultimately had no path but negotiation.”

White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s call for the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear facilities and the end of its enrichment program “validate the Iranian nation's suspicion that the US is addicted to its maximum-pressure policies,” Iran's state-run Press TV reported, citing a senior Iranian official.

Witkoff's remarks “not only expose the inconsistency and unreliability of American decision-makers but also reinforce the suspicion that the American side is ‘under the influence and temptation of neoconservatives and Netanyahu’.”