Iran, US N-talks end in Oman

Fresh talks between Iranian and US negotiators to resolve disputes over Tehran’s nuclear programme ended in Oman yesterday with further negotiations planned, officials said, as Tehran publicly insisted on continuing its uranium enrichment.Though Tehran and Washington both have said they prefer diplomacy to resolve the decades-long nuclear dispute, they remain deeply divided on several red lines that negotiators will have to circumvent to reach a new nuclear deal and avert future military action.Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held the fourth round of talks in Muscat through Omani mediators.Araqchi said the talks were "more serious and more straightforward compared to the previous three rounds”."We now understand each other better and hope to make further progress moving forward... Iran’s uranium enrichment must continue, although its scope and level may change,” Araqchi told state TV.A senior official from President Donald Trump’s administration said yesterday’s "direct and indirect” discussions had lasted more than three hours."We are encouraged by today’s outcome and look forward to our next meeting, which will happen in the near future,” the official said.On Thursday, Witkoff told Breitbart News that Washington’s red line is: "No enrichment. That means dismantlement, no weaponisation,” requiring the complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear facilities in Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan.But Araqchi said "there is absolutely no room for compromise on uranium enrichment” on Iran’s soil."Its dimensions, scale, level, or amount might be subject to certain limitations — for confidence-building purposes, for instance — as was done in the past, but the principle of enrichment itself is simply not negotiable,” he said after the talks.Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said in a post on X that the Iran-US talks included "useful and original” ideas, adding that the next round of talks will take place after both sides have consulted with their respective capitals.A senior Iranian official close to the negotiating team said 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 said, on condition of anonymity.