Iranian and Western officials have said the United States is in talks with Iran to outline steps that could lead to curbing Iran’s nuclear program, releasing some detained US citizens and ending the freezing of some Iranian assets at the stranger.
And after failing to revive the Iran nuclear deal reached in 2015, Washington hopes to restore some restrictions on Iran to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons. Tehran says it does not aspire to develop a nuclear weapon.
US and European officials have sought ways to curb Tehran’s nuclear efforts since the breakdown of US-Iranian proxy talks.
State Department spokesman Matt Miller denied any deal with Iran. However, he said Washington wanted Tehran to deescalate tensions, curb its nuclear program, stop supporting regional groups carrying out proxy attacks, stop supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine and release detained US citizens.
Reuters quoted the US official as saying, “We continue to use diplomatic means of communication to achieve all of these goals,” without going into specifics.
Prevent escalation An Iranian official said: “Call it what you want, whether it’s a temporary agreement, an interim agreement or a common understanding…Both sides want to prevent a new escalation.
He added that initially “this will include the exchange of prisoners and the release of some of the frozen Iranian assets”.
Reuters quoted the Iranian official as saying other measures could include exemptions from U.S. Iran-linked sanctions for oil exports in return for halting 60% uranium enrichment, and greater Iranian cooperation with the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency.
Appeasement “I can call it an agreement, an appeasement,” a Western official said on condition of anonymity.
US special envoy for Iran Rob Malley also met with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, after months of Iran’s refusal to communicate directly.
Asked about the discussions that took place, the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York said: “Our objective is to use diplomacy to correctly and realistically understand the situation and try to find solutions to prevent tensions. and manage the current situation”.
“The key to the success of this path is to reduce the role of opponents to the diplomatic channel,” the Iranian mission told Reuters.
A situation acceptable to all The idea is to create a status quo acceptable to all, the Western official said, and to get Iran to avoid the Western red line of enrichment at 90% purity, which is generally considered as weapons, and perhaps even to “stop” his 60 percent enrichment.
He went on to say that in addition to stopping at 60%, the two sides were discussing greater Iranian cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and not installing more advanced centrifuges in exchange for a “significant transfer” of Iranian funds located abroad.
The official did not say whether the halt meant that Iran would commit not to enrich itself above 60%, or that it would stop enriching itself at the same 60%.
Avoid an Iranian-Israeli confrontation
A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday the two countries could soon swap prisoners if Washington shows good will, adding that talks are underway through mediators, without going into details. Iran’s mission to the United Nations has yet to respond to a request for detailed comment.
The Western official said the main US objective was to prevent the nuclear situation from deteriorating and avert a possible confrontation between Israel and Iran.
“If the Iranians get the math wrong, the possibility of a strong Israeli response is something we want to avoid,” he added.
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