Istanbul, Turkey. Iran and the United States will resume nuclear talks on Friday in Turkey, Iranian and U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday, as U.S. President Donald Trump warned that “bad things would probably happen” if a deal cannot be reached.
Meeting in Istanbul
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi are set to meet in Istanbul in an effort to revive diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear programme and to address fears of a new regional war. A regional diplomat said representatives from countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt would also participate.
Rising tensions and naval buildup
Tensions are high amid a U.S. naval buildup near Iran, following a violent crackdown against anti-government demonstrations last month that was described as the deadliest domestic unrest in Iran since its 1979 revolution.
Trump, who stopped short of carrying out threats to intervene during the crackdown, has since demanded Tehran make nuclear concessions and sent a flotilla to Iran’s coast. He said last week Iran was “seriously talking”, while Iran’s top security official Ali Larijani said arrangements for negotiations were under way.
Trump comments on talks
Asked on Monday at the White House about the prospect of a deal, Trump told reporters that talks were happening.
“We have ships heading to Iran right now, big ones – the biggest and the best – and we have talks going on with Iran and we’ll see how it all works out … if we can work something out, that would be great and if we can’t, probably bad things would happen,” Trump said.
Reported U.S. demands and Iran’s position
Iranian sources told Reuters last week that Trump had demanded three conditions for resumption of talks: zero enrichment of uranium in Iran, limits on Tehran’s ballistic missile programme, and ending its support for regional proxies.
Iran has long rejected all three demands as unacceptable infringements of its sovereignty. Two Iranian officials told Reuters that Iran’s clerical rulers saw the ballistic missile programme, rather than uranium enrichment, as the bigger obstacle.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was considering “the various dimensions and aspects of the talks”, adding that “time is of the essence for Iran as it wants the lifting of unjust sanctions sooner”.
Regional calls for de-escalation
Turkey and other regional allies have sought de-escalation.
What do you think the resumption of talks in Istanbul could mean for regional tensions?