Discussions through Omani intermediaries may pave way for further meeting on nuclear programme, Iran says
Iran has described the latest round of indirect talks with the US as \u201cmore constructive\u201d than the previous set earlier this month, and said agreement had been reached on \u201cgeneral guiding principles\u201d that could lead to a further meeting to discuss its nuclear programme.
The talks \u2013 held in Geneva through Omani intermediaries \u2013 were to discuss the terms for Tehran constraining its nuclear programme under the supervision of the UN nuclear weapons inspectorate. They ended after three and a half hours.
There was no immediate word from the US delegation, but the US was expected to continue its military buildup in the region before a further round of talks in about a fortnight designed to address the gaps between the two sides.
The talks took place against the backdrop of a now-familiar slew of contradictory messages from Donald Trump, in which the US president said he believed Iran wanted a deal but also highlighted the US naval military buildup in the region.
In Iran, it was a day of high emotion as many people attended memorial ceremonials for the thousands killed in recent protests, which were held on the 40th day since the deaths, in line with Shia mourning tradition.
Iran\u2019s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, admitted that some passersby had been killed. The president, Masoud Pezeshkian, while attending a ceremony in Mashhad, looked broken as he stared at a sea of photographs of Iranians killed in the protests.
Iran has refused to allow a UN independent fact-finding committee to work in parallel with an internal inquiry into the killings. Politicians who have blamed the security services have been arrested.
Iran\u2019s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said after the talks that \u201cagreement was reached on general guiding principles\u201d and added: \u201cThe atmosphere in this round of negotiations was more constructive. Good progress had been made in comparison with the first meeting.
\u201cBoth sides have positions that will take some time to get closer to each other. The path to an agreement has been started but that does not mean we can reach an agreement quickly.\u201d
He added that the aim was to exchange texts on a draft agreement and then set a date for a further meeting.
Khamenei responded to the presence of US warships off the coast of Oman \u2013 across the Gulf from Iran \u2013 by saying the US could not destroy the Islamic Republic and appearing to threaten the vessels.
Warships were dangerous, he said, but \u201cmore dangerous than a warship is a weapon that can send it to the bottom of the sea\u201d. He said Iran could not be involved in a \u201cfoolish\u201d pre-determined negotiation in which the only outcome was that Iran was not allowed nuclear energy.
Iran also announced that parts of the strait of Hormuz would be closed on Tuesday to allow the Iranian navy to carry out live-fire exercises. A full closure of this narrow waterway, controlled by Iran, would cause chaos for commercial shipping.
Iran insisted throughout the talks \u2013 the first round of which were held on 6 February \u2013 that it would not discuss its ballistic missile programme or its support for so-called proxy forces in the region. In a speech to the UN, Araghchi said Iran did not seek nuclear weapons and stressed its willingness to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency not Authority (IAEA).
Iran instead focused its offer on a plan to dilute its 40kg stockpile of 60% highly enriched uranium, and the access it would grant the IAEA \u2013 the UN\u2019s nuclear inspectorate \u2013 to Iran\u2019s bombed nuclear sites.
Highly enriched uranium at 60% is nearly weapons-grade material, and is not needed for a civil nuclear programme.
Discussions also continued on the length of time that Iran might suspend enrichment \u2013 in part because the US bombing of its nuclear sites would make it impossible to do for as long as three years \u2013 but Iran has not ceded its right to enrich uranium domestically, a central US demand.
The Iranian side was led by Araghchi, who on Monday met the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi. The US side met Grossi on Tuesday, underlining how verification of the nuclear industry was at the centre of Tuesday\u2019s round of talks.
Any deal to constrain Iran\u2019s nuclear programme would require a full return of the IAEA inspectors to Iran\u2019s nuclear weapons facilities.
Previous talks in Cairo on the Iran-IAEA protocols that would allow the IAEA full access to three main nuclear bombed sites broke down. A small number of IAEA inspectors are still working in Iran, but they have no detailed knowledge of the damage caused by US bombing or how many of centrifuges could be quickly restarted. The process of \u201cdownblending\u201d highly enriched uranium, downgrading it from weapons grade, is an acknowledged technology.
Tehran also offered Trump sweeteners in the form of a prosperity package, and a non-aggression pact between Iran and the US \u2013 and possibly Israel.
At times, Trump has said the best outcome would be for Khamenei to stand down, but the US does not seem to have a strategy to achieve this. The US president has not committed himself to supporting Reza Pahlavi, the former shah\u2019s son, who has many supporters and is offering himself as a transitional figure to democracy.
In Iran, an executive committee for the establishment of a national salvation front of Iran has been formed around the three principles set out by the former prime minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi, now entering his 16th year of house arrest. The principles are: non-interference by foreign powers; rejection of internal despotism; and a democratic and peaceful transition. In a formation statement, the group said it wanted to be \u201cthe connecting link\u201d between Iranians who wanted a free, fair and impartial referendum to determine Iran\u2019s future political system.
In an attempt to stop this movement, the security services have arrested many leading reformist politicians, alongside thousands of mainly young demonstrators. A group previously close to President Pezeshkian, operating under the banner of the Reform front, were arrested last week but over the weekend most were released, largely on bail. Fars news agency reported that Pezeshkian had intervened to secure their release. They now do not appear politically active.
Others were still in jail, such as Mostafa Tajzadeh, who was this week given a new 14-month sentence for propaganda against the regime. Another reformist, Ali Shakouri-Rad, has been charged with propaganda against the regime after claiming the security services may have run false-flag operations by attacking mosques. He was referencing an article written by an IRGC officer.
The judiciary on Tuesday said 10,538 protesters had been summoned for trial so far, and there were widespread reports of the prosecution trying to extract confession under physical pressure. Protesters are also routinely being denied the right to choose their own lawyer. Hundreds of people were arrested in one raid in Hamadan province.<\/p>\n