Iran, U.S. To Hold Talks In Rome For Nuclear Deal

Iran and the United States will hold a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will negotiate indirectly through an Omani official who will shuttle messages between the two sides, Iranian officials said, a week after a first round of indirect talks in Muscat that both sides described as constructive.

This hillside cave in the occupied West Bank is the third home Fatima Abu Naim has lived in this year with her husband and five children.

Araqchi and Witkoff interacted briefly at the end of the first round, but officials from the two countries have not held direct negotiations since 2015 under former U.S. President Barack Obama.

Araqchi, in a meeting with his Italian counterpart ahead of the talks, said Iran had always been committed to diplomacy and called on “all parties involved in the talks to seize the opportunity to reach a reasonable and logical nuclear deal”.

“Such an agreement should respect Iran’s legitimate rights and lead to the lifting of unjust sanctions on the country while addressing any doubts about its nuclear work,” Araqchi was quoted as saying by Iranian state media.

He said in Moscow on Friday that Iran believes reaching an agreement on its nuclear programme with the U.S. is possible as long as Washington is realistic.

Tehran has however sought to tamp down expectations of a quick deal, after some Iranian officials speculated that sanctions could be lifted soon.

Iran’s utmost authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said this week he was “neither overly optimistic nor pessimistic”.

For his part, Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”

Meanwhile, Israel has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.

Trump, who ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six powers during his first term in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Tehran, has revived his “maximum pressure” campaign on the country since returning to the White House in January.

Washington wants Iran to halt production of highly enriched uranium, which it believes is aimed at building an atomic bomb.

Reuters/Ejiofor Ezeifeoma