Iran will enter negotiations with 'prudence', says senior cleric

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a two-hour meeting with Steve Witkoff, head of the US negotiating team on Iran, Israeli Channel 12 reported.

Details were not disclosed, but earlier, media reported that Netanyahu had been dissatisfied with President Trump’s recent stance toward the Islamic Republic and conveyed his anger to the White House.

In a statement by lawmakers addressed to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the group said that Iran's rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) — including nuclear research, development, and peaceful use — are non-negotiable and fully verifiable under the IAEA safeguards.

Read by presidium member Ahmad Naderi during a public session, the statement said, "According to Article 4 of the Treaty on the NPT, the great nation of Iran is entitled to three inalienable rights: first, the right to research and development; second, the right to produce; and third, the right to utilize nuclear energy."

The lawmakers argued that in accordance with this article of the NPT, "the Islamic Republic faces no limitations in nuclear research and development and can proceed with enrichment up to 93% based on its scientific, medical, and industrial needs."

The lawmakers also criticized the IAEA for what they called four decades of obstructing Iran’s peaceful nuclear development, and for relying on what they called politically motivated intelligence, particularly from Iran's archenemy, Israel.

Last month, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said in an interview with Le Monde that Iran was “not far” from being able to produce an atomic bomb, describing the country’s progress as “pieces of a puzzle” that could potentially come together.

Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and remains under IAEA monitoring.

Also on Wednesday, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf condemned US President Donald Trump’s recent remarks in Riyadh in which he referenced Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program and Tehran's support for military proxies, calling them “delusional” and blaming US policies for instability in West Asia.

Speaking at the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States in Jakarta, Indonesia, Ghalibaf said, “The root of chaos in the West Asia region lies in the US regime’s support for the Zionist mafia.”

Responding to Trump’s allegations, also in Riyadh, that Iran is the region’s main source of instability, while offering a conditional nuclear deal, Ghalibaf said, “His remarks show he lives in illusion.”

“We advise him to open his eyes to the reality that resistance holds a deep place in the hearts of the people,” Ghalibaf said in reference to Tehran-backed regional armed groups.

“Instead of worrying about Iran’s internal affairs, he should be concerned about his own popularity, which has plummeted to historic lows for an American president,” Ghalibaf added.

The speaker also criticized the US for decades of hostile actions against Iran, including the 1953 coup, support for Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war, the downing of an Iranian passenger plane in 1988, and the assassination of Revolutionary Guard commander General Qassem Soleimani.

“The Islamic Republic has withstood maximum pressure and continues to challenge the global hegemonic system. Even US universities are feeling the impact of this resistance message,” he said, alluding to recent campus protests over the war in Gaza across the US.

Ghalibaf maintained that Iran does not seek nuclear weapons and called for regional security through cooperation among neighbors, “free from the interference of non-regional powers.”

“Iran is not a warmonger, but we will never surrender. We are brothers with our neighbors and reject US efforts to stir division to boost its arms sales,” he said.

“It is unclear what was discussed over the past month. There is no detail on substance or format, nor any indication of whether an agreement is likely,” Vatan Emrooz wrote in its editorial following the fourth round of talks in Oman last weekend.

“The US’s repeated calls to halt enrichment cast doubt on its seriousness … Perhaps the only objective at this point is to ensure the talks do not collapse,” the editorial added.

While the ultra-conservative daily was more subdued than usual, the message was clear: the process, not the outcome, is what matters.

Kayhan, a hardline paper closely aligned with the Supreme Leader’s office, also struck a defiant tone, giving a rare front-page place to foreign minister Abbas Araghchi who said Tehran will not negotiate enrichment.

Muted optimism, missing details

Other outlets—across both reformist and conservative camps—offered a more coordinated and cautiously positive framing, though still with limited substance. Etemad and Jomhouri Eslami both described the talks as successful but provided no insight into what had actually transpired.

The only notable detail was Etemad’s assertion that the latest round of talks were both direct and indirect, clearly contradicting the official line that the negotiations had been strictly indirect.

Two prominent political commentators, Mohammad Sadeq Javadi-Hesar and Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, acknowledged the information vacuum but urged against equating public messaging with actual policy.

"The outcome of the fourth round of talks has isolated warmongers and opponents of Iran," Javadi-Hesar wrote in Etemad on Monday.

Falahtpisheh went one step further, commenting on US politics. “If both sides have decided to continue negotiations, it means that Steve Witkoff’s statement before the talks, about ending enrichment in Iran, was aimed at silencing opposition within the US.”

A Consortium on the Table?

One potentially significant development came via Khorassan, a conservative daily, which reported that Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi had proposed a regional “nuclear consortium” involving Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE—with the United States as a symbolic shareholder.

Khorasan quoted Witkoff as describing the idea as “a surprise that can be considered.” Such an arrangement, the paper asserted, could address regional security concerns about Iran’s nuclear transparency and dilute fears of its technological monopoly.

Most upbeat was the Reform-aligned daily Sharq, which described the talks in Oman as a new life to diplomacy. And most eloquent, perhaps, was the centrist outlet Ham-Mihan, printing “back to square one” on its front page.

Iran will not accept zero enrichment or transfer of its enriched uranium abroad, the daily wrote in its editorial, unless there is a phased agreement and verifiable US sanctions relief.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud said Wednesday the kingdom fully supports ongoing nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran and expressed hope for positive results.

"Regarding the nuclear file, there is full support for the ongoing talks between the United States and Iran. We hope that these talks will lead to a positive outcome that ensures the stability of the region," he said in comments cited by Saudi state media.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran seeks regional understanding around its nuclear negotiations with the United States and awaits Oman’s coordination for the next round of talks.

“We hope a regional consensus emerges regarding this round of negotiations and any potential agreement,” Araghchi said, adding that recent visits to Qatar and Saudi Arabia were part of efforts to engage neighbors on the talks.

He confirmed that Iran is briefing regional and European partners on the process. “In such a climate of understanding, we can see greater regional stability and security without foreign interference,” he said.

Araghchi also announced that the next round of talks with European diplomats will take place in Istanbul on Friday. “We remain ready to talk to Europe, even if their own policies have led to some isolation in these negotiations,” he said.