Fifth round of nuclear talks set for Friday in Rome as Iran insists on right to enrich
Tehran agrees to more talks though US has said it cannot enrich uranium; Netanyahu says he’d welcome deal that bars regime from enriching, ensures it can’t build bomb
MUSCAT, Oman — Iran and the United States will hold the next round of talks on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program in Rome later this week, Tehran and mediator Oman said Wednesday.
The arch-foes have held four rounds of nuclear talks since April 12, the highest-level contact between them since US President Donald Trump abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal during his first term.
“The 5th round of Iran-US talks will take place in Rome this Friday,” Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said in a post on X.
Iran confirmed it would attend the meeting.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a statement that Tehran had agreed “to a proposal put forward by (mediator) Oman… to organize another round of Iran-US talks” in the Italian capital on Friday.
The talks aim for a new agreement that would curb Iran’s nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief.
Western countries, including the United States, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
However, the Islamic Republic, which is sworn to the destruction of Israel, currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, which has no peaceful application, and has obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities.
The level of enrichment is far above the 3.67% limit set in the 2015 deal but below the 90% needed for a nuclear warhead.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, expressed doubt this week over the talks.
“We don’t think it will lead to any outcome. We don’t know what will happen,” he said.
Denying Iran’s right to enrich uranium was “a big mistake,” Khamenei added.
His remarks came after the United States’ key negotiator in the talks, Steve Witkoff, voiced opposition to any Iranian uranium enrichment.
“An enrichment programme can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That’s our red line. No enrichment,” he told right-wing Breitbart News in an interview published on May 9.
Iran has repeatedly insisted its right to maintain uranium enrichment was “non-negotiable.”
On Sunday, its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran would keep enriching uranium “with or without a deal” on his country’s nuclear program.
Trump effectively torpedoed the deal in 2018 during his first term by unilaterally pulling out and reimposing sanctions on Iran’s oil exports and banking sector.
A year later, Iran began rolling back its commitments to the agreement, which had offered sanctions relief in return for UN-monitored restrictions on its nuclear activities.
The three European powers — party to the 2015 accord — are weighing whether to trigger the “snapback” mechanism, which would reinstate UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance. That option expires in October.
Araghchi earlier this month warned of “irreversible” consequences if Britain, France, and Germany moved to reimpose sanctions.
CNN reported Tuesday that new intelligence obtained by Washington suggests that Israel is making preparations to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, though it was not clear if Jerusalem had made a final decision on the matter.
“Iran remains a serious threat against Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a press conference on Wednesday night, stressing that Israel is “in full coordination with the US. We talk to them all the time. We hope that it’s possible to reach an agreement that will prevent a nuclear weapon from Iran.”
“That means it will prevent Iran from having the ability to enrich uranium. If it is reached, of course, we will welcome it,” he said, before warning that “Israel reserves the right to defend itself against a regime that threatens to destroy us.”
The Times of Israel Community.