“Based on the consultations held, the next round of indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States is being planned for next Sunday in Muscat,” ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters, as cited by state-owned IRNA news agency.
Tehran and Washington have held five Muscat-mediated rounds of talks on Iran’s nuclear program since April to agree on a new nuclear deal after Trump, during his first term, unilaterally withdrew from a 2015 accord and reimposed biting sanctions on the Islamic republic.
On Monday, Trump told reporters at the White House that a new round of talks is scheduled for Thursday and warned that a failure to reach a deal could lead to “very dire” consequences.
But Baghaei said that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will be in Norway on Wednesday and Thursday to attend the Oslo Forum.
Trump further criticized Iran’s insistence on continuing uranium enrichment as unacceptable to Washington.
“They seek enrichment,” Trump said. “That’s something we can’t have. We want just the opposite, and so far, they’re not there.”
Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday that Tehran will soon submit its counter-proposal for a nuclear deal with the US, criticizing Washington’s proposal as “lacking characteristics of an active and bilateral negotiation."
In early June, the White House confirmed that the US had sent Iran a proposal for a nuclear deal, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying it was in Tehran’s “best interest to accept” the “detailed and acceptable” proposal, emphasizing that “President Trump has made it clear that Iran can never obtain a nuclear bomb.”
A key roadblock in the revived talks is the issue of uranium enrichment. While US negotiators are pushing for zero enrichment, Tehran maintains that this is a nonstarter.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump said that “under our potential Agreement - WE WILL NOT ALLOW ANY ENRICHMENT OF URANIUM!”
A day later, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei doubled down on his rejection of Washington’s precondition. He accused the US of trying to obstruct Tehran’s nuclear development and declared, “They can't do a damn thing about it.”
In late May, Iran condemned a report from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog as relying on “unreliable and misleading information” from arch-foe Israel and repeating “biased and baseless accusations.”
Under the 2015 nuclear deal - formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - Iran agreed to curb its nuclear enrichment program in exchange for much-needed relief from crippling sanctions.
Following the US withdrawal and the reimposition of sweeping sanctions, Tehran gradually scaled back its compliance.
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