Iran and the United States are holding indirect talks Thursday in Geneva over Tehran’s nuclear negotiations, viewed as a last chance for diplomacy, as America has gathered a fleet of aircraft and warships to the Middle East to pressure Tehran into a deal.
U.S. special Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff is passing messages with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in an effort to convince his country to halt its enrichment of uranium, a key step to building a nuclear bomb, and curtail or stop its production of long-range missiles. The president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is also in attendance.
The two sides adjourned after around three hours of talks. Convoys carrying diplomats from both sides could be seen returning to the Omani diplomatic residence hours later, apparently to resume the negotiations.
What to know:
- Araghchi and Witkoff held multiple rounds of talks last year that collapsed after Israel launched its war against Iran in June. These latest talks are again being mediated by Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula that’s long served as an interlocutor between Iran and the West.
- Iran has maintained that it wants the talks to focus solely on nuclear issues, while the U.S. pushes to halt Iran’s enrichment of uranium entirely. But Washington’s concerns also go beyond Iran’s nuclear program to its ballistic missiles, support for proxy networks across the region and other issues.
- Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who has been mediating the negotiations, said the two sides have been exchanging “creative and positive ideas” and will resume talks after a break. Al Busaidi said he is hopeful that more progress can be made later Thursday when negotiations resume.
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