Araghchi meets IAEA chief ahead of second round of Iran-US talks
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency met Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Monday, state media reported, a day before a second round of talks between Iran and the United States.
The first round of Iran-US negotiations was held earlier this month in Muscat, mediated by Oman. Tuesday’s talks are also set to take place at Oman’s embassy in Switzerland.
Iranian media described the meeting with the IAEA chief as part of preparations for the next phase of negotiations. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said talks were moving forward within frameworks approved by senior state bodies and stressed that Iran was negotiating “in a climate of complete mistrust.”
Baghaei said Iran’s position was “completely clear,” adding that as a committed member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran accepted both its obligations and its rights. “Our right under Article 4 of the treaty is the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and enrichment is part of that,” he said.
He added that issues such as “what level of enrichment, to what extent, and how many centrifuges we will have” had not yet been discussed in detail. Baghaei also said different branches of the system had reviewed the negotiations and reached a unified decision to use available capacities, including at the foreign ministry and the Supreme National Security Council, to advance the talks.
