Top Iranian and US negotiators are set to resume talks on Sunday to address disputes over Tehran’s nuclear programme, in a push for progress as Washington adopts a tougher stance ahead of US President Donald Trump’s Middle East visit.
While both Tehran and Washington have stated their preference for diplomacy to resolve the long-standing dispute, significant divisions remain on several critical red lines that negotiators will need to navigate to achieve a new nuclear agreement and prevent future military action.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will hold their fourth round of discussions in Muscat, facilitated by Omani mediators, despite Washington’s publicly assertive stance that Iranian officials have cautioned would not aid the negotiations.
Witkoff informed Breitbart News on Thursday that Washington’s non-negotiable position is: “No enrichment. That means dismantlement, no weaponization,” requiring the complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear facilities in Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan.
“If they are not productive on Sunday, then they won’t continue and we’ll have to take a different route,” Witkoff stated in the interview.
Trump, who has alluded to potential military action against Iran if diplomatic efforts fail, is scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates from May 13th to 16th.
Responding to Witkoff’s remarks, Araqchi asserted on Saturday that Iran would not concede its nuclear rights.
“Iran continues negotiations in good faith… if the aim of these talks is to limit Iran’s nuclear rights, I state clearly that Iran will not back down from any of its rights,” Araqchi affirmed.
Tehran has indicated a willingness to negotiate certain limitations on its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, according to Iranian officials. However, terminating its enrichment programme or surrendering its enriched uranium stockpile are among “Iran’s red lines that could not be compromised” during the talks.
A senior Iranian official with close ties to the negotiating team commented that US demands for “zero enrichment and dismantling Iran’s nuclear sites would not help in progressing the negotiations.”
“What the US says publicly differs from what is said in negotiations,” the official noted, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He indicated that matters would become clearer following Sunday’s talks, which were initially scheduled for May 3rd in Rome but were postponed due to what Oman described as “logistical reasons.”
Furthermore, Iran has definitively ruled out negotiating its ballistic missile programme, and the clerical establishment is demanding firm guarantees that Trump would not again abandon a nuclear agreement.
Trump, who reinstated a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran in February, withdrew from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear agreement with six world powers in 2018 during his first term and subsequently reimposed severe sanctions on Iran.
Iran, which has consistently maintained that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, has breached the 2015 pact’s nuclear restrictions since 2019, including “dramatically” accelerating its enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, a level nearing the approximately 90% required for weapons-grade material, according to the UN nuclear watchdog.
