Iran says talks with US to focus solely on nuke issue, lifting sanctions

TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign ministry said Sunday that talks with the United States slated for next weekend would remain “indirect” with Omani mediation, and be focused solely on the nuclear issue and lifting of sanctions.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held a first round of talks on Saturday in Muscat, marking the highest-level Iran-US nuclear negotiations since the collapse of a 2015 accord.

They agreed to meet again in seven days.

“Negotiations will continue to be indirect. Oman will remain the mediator, but we are discussing the location of future negotiations,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in an interview with state TV.

He said the talks would only focus on “the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions”, and that Iran “will not have any talks with the American side on any other issue”.

Analysts had said the US would push to include on the agenda discussions over Iran’s ballistic missile programme, along with Tehran’s support for the “axis of resistance” — a network of militant groups opposed to Israel.

Tehran has, however, maintained it will talk only about its nuclear programme.

Donald Trump in 2018 pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers during his first term as US president.

He reimposed sweeping economic sanctions against Iran, which continued to adhere to the agreement for a year after Washington’s pullout but later began rolling back its own commitments. Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Saturday’s negotiations came weeks after Trump sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging nuclear talks while warning of possible military action if Iran refuses.

Iran and the US separately described Saturday’s discussions as “constructive”.

Iran said the talks were held indirectly, with Oman’s foreign minister acting as intermediary.

The negotiators, Araghchi and Witkoff, spoke directly for “a few minutes” after the talks, Tehran’s foreign ministry said.

Another round of talks will be held on Saturday, April 19. The official IRNA news agency reported that they would be held in Europe, without elaborating.

Asked about the talks, Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One: “I think they’re going OK. Nothing matters until you get it done.” The process took place in a “friendly atmosphere”, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said.

Several Iranian websites that track the unofficial exchange rate reported Sunday a strengthening of the Iranian rial to around 850,000 to the US dollar, from more than one million in recent days.

Iran, reeling from Israel’s pummelling of its allies Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, is seeking relief from wide-ranging sanctions hobbling its economy.

Tehran has agreed to the meetings despite baulking at Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign of ramping up sanctions and repeated military threats.

On Sunday, Iranian media largely welcomed the talks as a “decisive turning point” in relations between the longtime foes.

Iran’s conservative Javan daily praised the US for “not seeking to expand the negotiations to non-nuclear issues”.

The government-sponsored Iran newspaper described the discussions as “constructive and respectful”, quoting Araghchi.