Next round of Iran-US nuclear talks expected in Rome this weekend - report

Iran on Monday denied reports that Ali Shamkhani, an advisor to Supreme Leader and former top security official, has been engaged in parallel nuclear negotiations with US representatives, saying the only ongoing talks are those led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff.

“There are no other negotiations besides the official indirect talks between Mr. Araghchi and Mr. Witkoff,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Bagahei said at a press briefing, dismissing recent media scuttlebutt as baseless.

The denial follows recent reports that Shamkhani, a former secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, had offered potential concessions in an interview with NBC News.

In the report, Shamkhani was quoted as saying that Tehran would be willing to abandon highly enriched uranium and permanently rule out nuclear weapons, in exchange for the full and immediate lifting of US economic sanctions.

A potential US-Iran nuclear deal that lifts sanctions on Tehran's oil industry could deal a serious blow to China's independent "teapot" refineries, which have profited from processing heavily discounted Iranian crude, Reuters analyst Ron Bousso wrote on Monday.

These small, privately owned refiners—mainly based in Shandong province—accounted for 77% of Iran’s oil exports in 2024, according to data from ship-tracking firm Kpler. Their business model has depended on sanctioned oil shipped via a shadow network of tankers and shell companies.

“If sanctions are loosened, this oil would be sold swiftly,” Bousso noted, warning that market liberalization could both depress global oil prices and undermine the fragile profit margins of teapots, which already operate at low utilization rates due to overcapacity and export restrictions.

Iranian oil production averaged 3.3 million barrels per day (bpd) last year and could ramp up by another 500,000 bpd within six months of a deal, Bousso said, citing OPEC figures. Such a surge would likely intensify Saudi Arabia’s ongoing price war while boosting Iran’s revenues and global oil supply.

The biggest losers, however, would be Chinese teapots, many of which may be forced to scale back or shut down altogether. “The removal of US sanctions on Iranian crude could therefore undermine their business models,” Bousso wrote.

In contrast, China’s large state-owned refiners stand to benefit by absorbing more market share, while the global refining industry may see a modest boost amid mounting uncertainty around fuel demand and energy transition policies.

Speaking at a press briefing in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Bagahei said, “The difficulty of negotiating with the US lies in the fact that you are dealing with a party that respects none of the established norms of a diplomatic process.”

“The very act of imposing sanctions while claiming to pursue diplomacy with the Islamic Republic of Iran shows a lack of seriousness and goodwill,” he added, warning that Washington’s shifting positions undermined trust.

“The Americans’ shifting position on enrichment is like a game of snakes and ladders—just as we make progress, the US adopts a different stance,” Bagahei said, referring to recent comments by US nuclear envoy Steve Witkoff that Washington would not accept any level of uranium enrichment in a future agreement.

Bagahei stressed that Iran’s enrichment program was “non-negotiable,” calling it both a legal right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a national achievement.

“Uranium enrichment is not some kind of fantasy that we can simply suspend or stop. It is a technology and a necessity to ensure the uninterrupted functioning of Iran’s nuclear industry,” he said. “We cannot give it up.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also dismissed Witkoff’s remarks, saying they were “completely at a distance from the reality of the negotiations.”

In a post on X on Sunday, Araghchi wrote: “If the US is interested in ensuring that Iran will not have nuclear weapons, a deal is within reach, and we are ready for a serious conversation to achieve a solution that will forever ensure that outcome. Enrichment in Iran, however, will continue with or without a deal.”

He accused the US of contradictory messaging. “Iran can only control what we Iranians do, and that is to avoid negotiating in public—particularly given the current dissonance we are seeing between what our US interlocutors say in public and in private, and from one week to the other,” Araghchi said.

Next round of talks expected soon

Elsewhere in his press conference, Baghaei said the date and location for the next round of indirect US-Iran nuclear talks have not been set. Araghchi, however, said on Sunday that the date is set and will soon be announced by Oman, which is mediating.

Baghaei denied reports of parallel negotiations between other Iranian and US officials, specifically between Ali Shamkhani – Iran's former top security official and currently an advisor to the Supreme Leader -- and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“There are no parallel negotiations. The only negotiation process that exists is this indirect one, led by the Iranian foreign minister and the US president’s special envoy,” Bagahei said.

The US and Iran have held four previous rounds of talks in Muscat and Rome. Witkoff said on Sunday that the next round could take place in Europe later this week.

President Donald Trump said Thursday the US was “very close” to a deal but issued a warning on Friday. “They have a proposal. More importantly, they know they have to move quickly or something bad—something bad’s going to happen,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Baghaei said on Monday, “We have not received any written proposal from the United States, and their verbal offers constantly shift,” echoing remarks made by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi the previous day.

Iran to respond if E3 triggers snapback

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman also warned on Monday that Tehran will respond to any hostile action, including a possible move by European countries to trigger the snapback mechanism—a process that would automatically reimpose UN sanctions on Iran under the 2015 nuclear deal.

“We will not leave any hostile action without a response,” Baghaei said. “There is no legal basis for activating the snapback mechanism, and the insistence of some European countries on doing so is baseless.”

“If the Europeans use the snapback mechanism, we will definitely take measures in response,” he added.

Iran accused the United States on Monday of lacking seriousness and good faith in nuclear diplomacy, saying Washington continues to impose sanctions while claiming to seek negotiations. Tehran also ruled out any possibility of negotiating over uranium enrichment, calling it a “non-negotiable right.”

“The difficulty of negotiating with the US lies in the fact that you are dealing with a party that respects none of the established norms of a diplomatic process,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Bagahei said at his weekly press conference.

He added: “The very act of imposing sanctions while claiming to pursue diplomacy with the Islamic Republic of Iran shows a lack of seriousness and goodwill.”

"The Americans’ shifting position on enrichment is like a game of snakes and ladders—just as we make progress, the US adopts a different stance,” he said, in an apparent reference to remarks by US top negotiator Steve Witkoff who said Washington will not accept any level of uranium enrichment in a potential agreement with Tehran.

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Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi has rejected US calls for zero uranium enrichment, calling the program a national achievement and warning that such demands will lead nowhere.

“Our position on enrichment is clear and we have repeatedly said that enrichment is a national achievement for us,” Takht-Ravanchi said in remarks to Iran’s judiciary-affiliated Mizan News Agency.

“This is an accomplishment reached by our own scientists, and it has been ongoing for years.”

He added that Iran would not compromise on the issue. “We will not back down on enrichment, and we have made it clear from the beginning that if their position is zero enrichment, naturally nothing will be achieved.”