Iran is ready for open talks on all issues, including nuclear energy, at talks to be held in Switzerland on Tuesday under the mediation of Oman.
What you should know
The second round of indirect talks between Iran and the United States are taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is leading the talks, while US Middle East envoy Steve Whittaker and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will lead the American team, the AP reported.
The Omani mediator, who is to mediate the indirect talks between the two countries, will hold separate discussions with both negotiating teams.
Iran has been demanding an agreement that will benefit both sides economically. Foreign Minister Araghchi has said that Iran is ready to hold open talks on all issues, including nuclear energy. Last week, Iran and US representatives held indirect talks in Muscat, Oman, breaking a six-month deadlock. President Trump had said that the talks were positive. However, the details of the talks have not been disclosed yet. President Trump accused Iran of not being serious about the talks during a visit to Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina last Friday. He had said, “They have been talking for 47 years, and we have seen many people die while they are talking.”
At a press conference in the Slovak capital Bratislava on Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that President Trump was clear in favor of a diplomatic solution through talks. “No one has been able to negotiate successfully with Iran. But we are trying,” Rubio said. Hamid Ghanbari, deputy director of economic diplomacy at the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said that the economic interests of both sides are at the center of the upcoming agreement. “The issues are gas and petrol, investment in joint field exploration and aircraft purchases,” Ghanbari told the Fars News Agency. He said that the 2015 nuclear deal did not succeed because the nuclear deal did not ensure the economic interests of the United States.
What does Iran want?
The details of the indirect talks held in Oman last week have not been released. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said that an agreement could be reached on nuclear weapons, minerals and economic issues in the second round of indirect talks. In addition, Iran is demanding that US sanctions and barriers on world markets be lifted. In return, it has appeared ready to make significant cuts in uranium enrichment. The 2015 nuclear deal stipulated that Iran would not be allowed to enrich uranium beyond 3.7 percent. Similarly, the deal also stipulated that uranium stockpiles should be limited to 300 kilograms. Although that amount is sufficient for energy and medical purposes, it is not enough to make weapons. Scientists say that uranium should be enriched to 80 to 90 percent for weapons production.
US President Trump unilaterally decided to withdraw from the deal in 2018, which was signed by the US, UK, Russia, China, France, Germany and Iran. The US has since imposed continuous economic sanctions on Iran. Iran has also said that it is not bound by the agreement. It removed the 24-hour cameras installed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at its nuclear facility. After that, it secretly moved forward with its nuclear program.
It is said that the enrichment level is currently around 60 percent and that it has stockpiled 400 kilograms of uranium. The amount of uranium with a lower enrichment level is about 10,000 kg. Iran has said it is ready to implement the old proposal to reduce uranium enrichment to 3.7 percent. However, Trump has said that uranium enrichment should be reduced to zero. The five rounds of talks in 2025 were stuck on this issue. Meanwhile, the situation worsened when war broke out between Iran and Israel in June. The US attacked Iranian nuclear facilities to support Israel. In return, Iran retaliated by attacking a US military base in Qatar.
Threats and talks together
US President Trump has been pursuing talks with Iran and threatening it in parallel. He is threatening to attack Iran if the nuclear talks are not successful. The US has been stationing the Abraham Lincoln warship in the Middle East for a long time to increase pressure on the Iranian regime. On Friday, Trump also ordered the world's largest warship, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to depart for the Middle East. It will take three weeks for the ship to reach the Middle East from the Caribbean Sea.
Trump also expressed his solidarity with the anti-government protests that have been going on in Iran since December 28. He said, "Iran must stop its nuclear program and its killing of people." The Iranian government claims that the protests, which were extremely violent in January, have recently been brought under control. But on Sunday, anti-government slogans were again heard here, according to the international news agency AFP. The internet is shut down in Iran, making it difficult for international media and human rights activists to find out the exact number of people who died in the protests. However, locals say that there was a major crackdown here in January and that the death toll is also high.
Solidarity with the protesters has been expressed from around the world against this repression. Last Saturday, more than 200,000 people gathered in Munich, Germany, to demonstrate against the Iranian regime. Protesters gathered near the Munich Security Conference site as it was taking place, demanding that world leaders change the regime in Iran through economic sanctions and military intervention. Addressing the gathering, Pahlavi said he was ready to lead the country. “I have come here to ensure a secular democratic future,” he said. “I am ready to be a transitional leader so that one day we will have the opportunity to decide the fate of our country in a democratic, transparent and electoral process.”
