Iranian and American negotiators closed a fifth round of nuclear conversations in Rome on Friday with “some progress but not conclusive,” said the mediator Omanan, after a public disagreement about the enrichment of Uranium of Tehran.
The conversations, which began in April, are the highest level among the enemies since the United States resigned from an emblematic 2015 nuclear agreement during the first mandate of President Donald Trump.
Since he returned to office, Trump has revived his “maximum pressure” campaign in Iran, supporting conversations but warning about military action if diplomacy fails.
Iran wants a new agreement that relieves sanctions that have mistreated their economy.
“The fifth round of Iran-United States conversations has concluded today in Rome with some progress but not conclusive,” said Omaní Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, in X, and added that he hoped that “the remaining problems” would be clarified in the next few days.
The spokesman of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baqaei, had previously said that the US chief negotiator Steve Witkoff had left the conversations “due to his flight schedule.” The fourth round of conversations, in the capital Omar Muscat, ended with a public dispute over enrichment.
Witkoff said Washington “could not even authorize the enrichment of one percent,” a position that Tehran called a red line, citing its rights under the nuclear non -proliferation treaty.
‘Fundamental differences’
Before Friday’s conversations, Araghchi said that “the fundamental differences” remained with the United States, while added that Tehran was open to their nuclear sites experiencing more inspections.
“We will not have an agreement at all” if the United States wants to prevent them from enriching uranium, he said.
The conversations were ahead of a June meeting of the UN Nuclear Control Agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency (OIEA) based in Vienna, and the October Expiration of the 2015 Agreement.
The agreement, known as the joint comprehensive action plan, aimed to calm the western suspicions that Iran was looking for a capacity of nuclear weapons, an ambition that Tehran has constantly denied.
In exchange for curbs in its nuclear program, Iran had received relief from international sanctions. But the agreement was torpedored in 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States and reimpose sanctions.
A year later, Iran responded by increasing its nuclear activities.
It is now enriching the uranium at 60pc, well above the 3.67pc limit of the agreement, but then, although close, the 90 percent level necessary for a nuclear head.
‘It’s quite simple’
The analysts in Tehran said it was unlikely that they will go back.
“It is quite simple; if the United States hopes will stop nuclear enrichment, then there cannot be an agreement,” said Mohammad Mara Andi, a political scientist who was once an advisor on the nuclear issue.
Iran’s atomic energy organization says that the country’s nuclear industry uses 17,000 people, similar to other countries where uranium is enriched for civil use.
“Netherlands, Belgium, South Korea, Brazil and Japan enriched [uranium] Without having nuclear weapons, ”said his Behrouz Kamalvandi spokesman.
Iran’s enmity with Israel, whose main sponsor is the United States, has been a constant backdrop for conversations.
In a letter to the United Nations, Araghchi wrote: “We believe that in case of any attack on the nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Zionist regime, the United States government will also be involved and will assume legal responsibility.”
The warning came after CNNCiting unidentified American officials, he reported that Israel was making preparations to carry out such a strike.
The White House said Trump had a “productive discussion” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday over Iran and the fatal shooting of two employees of the Israeli embassy in Washington.
‘Irreversible’
The 2015 agreement establishes the possibility that the UN sanctions are imposed again through a mechanism called “snapback” if Iran does not fulfill their commitments.
The three European parties of the agreement, Great Britain, France and Germany, have warned that they will trigger the mechanism if the security of the continent is threatened.
Araghchi said such movement would have “consequences, not only the end of Europe’s role in the agreement, but also an escalation of tensions that could become irreversible.”
