INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi will visit Russia this week ahead of a planned second round of talks between Tehran and Washington
aimed at resolving Irans decades-long nuclear stand-off with the West, Reuters reported.
Araqchi and United States President Donald Trumps
Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, held talks in Oman on Saturday, during which Omani envoy Badr al-Busaidi shuttled between the two
delegations sitting in different rooms at his palace in Muscat.
Both sides described the talks in Oman as positive, although a senior
Iranian official told Reuters the meeting was only aimed at setting the terms of possible future negotiations.
The second round of the
nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington will be held in Omans Muscat on Saturday, Irans state news agency IRNA on Monday quoted Foreign
Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei as saying.
Earlier on Monday, Italian news agency ANSA reported that Italy had agreed to host the talks
second round, and Iraqs state news agency said Araqchi told his Iraqi counterpart that talks would be held soon in the Italian capital under
Omani mediation, read the report.
Tehran has approached the talks warily, doubting the likelihood of an agreement and suspicious of Trump,
who has threatened to bomb Iran if there is no deal.
Washington aims to halt Tehrans sensitive uranium enrichment work regarded by the
United States, Israel and European powers as a path to nuclear weapons
Iran says its nuclear programme is solely for civilian energy production.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Baghaei, said Araqchi will
discuss the latest developments related to the Muscat talks with Russian officials.
Moscow, a party to Irans 2015 nuclear pact, has
supported Tehrans right to have a civilian nuclear programme.
Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on vital
state matters, distrusts the United States, and Trump in particular.
But Khamenei has been forced to engage with Washington in search of a
nuclear deal due to fears that public anger at home over economic hardship could erupt into mass protests and endanger the existence of the
clerical establishment, four Iranian officials told Reuters in March.
Tehrans concerns were exacerbated by Trumps speedy revival of his
maximum pressure campaign when he returned to the White House in January.
During his first term, Trump ditched Tehrans 2015 nuclear pact
with six world powers in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Since 2019, Iran has far surpassed the 2015 deals
limits on uranium enrichment, producing stocks at a high level of fissile purity, well above what Western powers say is justifiable for a
civilian energy programme and close to that required for nuclear warheads, Reuters reported.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has
raised the alarm regarding Irans growing stock of 60% enriched uranium, and reported no real progress on resolving long-running issues,
including the unexplained presence of uranium traces at undeclared sites.
IAEA head Rafael Grossi will visit Tehran on Wednesday, Iranian
media reported, in an attempt to narrow gaps between Tehran and the agency over unresolved issues.
Continued engagement and cooperation with
the agency is essential at a time when diplomatic solutions are urgently needed, Grossi said on X on Monday.
The post Iranian foreign
minister to visit Moscow ahead of second Iran-US meeting first appeared on TINS News.
