The Iran-US talks are not limited to Tehran’s disputed nuclear program but also include its missile program, Reuters reported on Friday, citing an Iranian official.
The United States must offer clear and practical commitments in negotiations with Iran, a member of the Iranian parliament's national security committee said on Friday ahead of nuclear talks in Oman this weekend.
Esmail Kowsari, a Revolutionary Guard general-turned-lawmaker, said the commitments should include a complete military withdrawal from the region and reduced support for Israel.
Ali Khamenei’s recent shift in position on negotiations with the United States is part of his negotiation tactics, the hardline Kayhan newspaper—managed by a representative of the Supreme Leader—said in a report.
Kayhan wrote that Khamenei’s comments over the past two months — first condemning talks with the US as dishonorable and later allowing indirect negotiations — reflected techniques used in real negotiations.
The shift for Iran's engagement in talks with the West started last year after the election of President Masoud Pezeshkian, the Washington Post reported Friday citing an individual with knowledge of Iranian leadership’s thinking.
Following Israeli military operations targeting Iran and its regional allies, support for engagement began to grow, particularly among Iran’s senior military leadership, the source was quoted as saying.
To signal and justify possible nuclear concessions in ongoing US talks, Iran's Supreme Leader has once again alluded to a historic concession by a Shi'ite Muslim leader to buy time against a stronger foe.
The reference was the same deployed by the wily 86-year-old theocrat to justify Iran's agreement to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal.
Speaking Thursday at a modest religious gathering in his office on Thursday, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei recalled how the second Shia Imam, Hasan ibn Ali—seen by Shia Muslims as a paragon of just leadership—signed a controversial peace treaty with hated foe Mu'awiya in 661 CE.
Atop Iranian cleric has described ongoing talks with the administration of US President Donald Trump led by his special envoy and fellow property magnate Steve Witkoff as akin to a real estate negotiation in which Iran will prevail.
Mostafa Pourmohammadi, secretary of the Combatant Clergy Association and a former interior and justice minister, said Iran would get a fair deal after initial posturing and an expected back and forth.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi who is in Oman for the third round of nuclear talks with the United States, unveiled an Arabic version of his 'Power of Negotiation' book on Friday on the sidelines of his visit to Muscat Book Fair.
US-Iran talks are set to get trickier as the two foes thrash out technical details deciding the limits to Iran's nuclear activity and the scope of inspections, a former senior US negotiator told Eye for Iran.
Richard Nephew, former US deputy special envoy for Iran during part of Joe Biden's presidency, said the level of trust between President Donald Trump and his special envoy Steve Witkoff augured well for the talks.
Still, as the negotiations are set for their third round on Saturday and first set of technical talks, the devil may be in the technical details.
"We haven't yet really seen a pretty clear sense of consistency or attention to detail on the technical side," he said in an interview with the podcast.
The ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran are not limited to Tehran’s disputed nuclear program but also include its missile program, Reuters reported on Friday, citing an Iranian official with knowledge of the talks.
Following a second round of talks in Rome on April 19, Iranian negotiators were "persuaded that the US had accepted Tehran's position that it would not entirely end its enrichment program or surrender all the uranium it has enriched already."
However, the official was quoted as saying that Iran's missile program remained a big sticking point.
"The only remaining point of disagreement in the general discussions and mutual understanding is the missile issue," the report said citing the Iranian official.
The Islamic Republic insists that its missile program is a non-negotiable element of its defense strategy. The Trump administration has also refrained from mentioning Iran's missile program, emphasizing that the focus of its ongoing talks with Tehran is solely to prevent the country from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Iran's chief negotiator Abbas Araghchi has arrived in Muscat and his American counterpart Steve Witkoff has also departed Russia for Oman to attend the third round of talks with Tehran slated for Saturday.
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff departed Russia for Oman to join a third round of nuclear talks with Iran scheduled for Saturday, following a three-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, in a recent meeting in Washington DC, told senior US officials that Iran’s underground nuclear sites could be destroyed if the US Air Force used its 30,000-pound bunker buster bombs, the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing former Israeli and US intelligence officials familiar with the meeting.
