Maskat/Washington/Tehran (dpa -AfX) – Iran and the USA began the third round of their nuclear negotiations in the Omani capital Maskat. In parallel to the political discussions between the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghtschi and the US specialist Steve Witkoff, technical negotiations will also take place this time.
“We mean it seriously – if the Americans do it as well, there is a basis for an agreement,” said Araghtschi before he left to Maskat. In order to speed up the negotiation process, Tehran is even ready for an interim agreement, the minister said. In addition, Araghtschi promised the United States in the prospect of billions in Iran.
According to President Donald Trump, the main goal of the United States is to prevent the development of an Iranian atomic bomb. If negotiations fail, he threatens Iran with military consequences.
The focus of uranium enrichment
According to experts, this round is primarily concerned with the question of Iranian uranium enrichment, the regulation of which is an essential prerequisite for political agreement. In the Vienna Agreement of 2015, Iran was granted a maximum enrichment level of 3.67 percent and a supply of up to 300 kilograms of uranium.
After the United States exit from the 2018 Agreement, Tehran had also turned away from the agreements. The enrichment was increased to 60 percent. The supplies now exceed 8,000 kilograms. Iran claims not to pursue a nuclear weapons program, but rejects a complete waiver of civilian nuclear technology.
Compromise signals from Tehran
According to observers, there have been signals from Iran for possible concessions in the past few days. Accordingly, Tehran should be ready to return to the technical requirements of 2015 and to reactivate the surveillance cameras of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in his nuclear facilities. In addition, Tehran wants to have guarantees that his nuclear projects only serve peaceful purposes and no weapon programs.
Economic crisis as a pressure factor
In return, Tehran demands an end to the US sanctions that have plunged the country into a severe financial crisis. It is primarily about the normalization of oil exports – Iran’s most important source of income
– and the release of frozen international credit. These are on
more than $ 100 billion (around 88 billion euros) estimated. Without lifting the sanctions, experts fear further tightening the economic crisis in Iran./Pry/Sstr/dp/nas