Iran has confirmed that its next round of nuclear talks with the United States this weekend will be held in Rome after earlier confusion over where the negotiations would be conducted.
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, also arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for talks that could include negotiations over what access his International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors can get under any proposed deal.
The state TV announcement said Oman will again mediate the talks on Saturday in Rome. Oman’s foreign minister served as an interlocutor between the two sides during negotiations last weekend in Muscat, the Omani capital.
Grossi arrived in Tehran for meetings with Pezeshkian and others, which will likely be held on Thursday.
Shortly before his arrival, Grossi warned that Iran was “not far” from possessing a nuclear bomb.
“It’s like a puzzle. They have the pieces, and one day they could eventually put them together,” Grossi told French newspaper Le Monde in an interview published on Wednesday.
“There’s still a way to go before they get there. But they’re not far off, that has to be acknowledged,” he said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday warned the US about taking contradictory stances in the talks.
His remarks came after comments from US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who this week initially suggested a deal could see Iran go back to 3.67 percent uranium enrichment – like in the 2015 deal reached by the administration of former US President Barack Obama. Witkoff then followed up by saying, “A deal with Iran will only be completed if it is a Trump deal.”
“Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponisation program,” Witkoff wrote on the social platform X. “It is imperative for the world that we create a tough, fair deal that will endure, and that is what President Trump has asked me to do.”
In response, Araghchi issued a warning to the US.
“Enrichment is a real and accepted issue, and we are ready for trust-building about possible concerns,” Araghchi noted. But losing the right to enrich at all “is non-negotiable”, he said.