US speaks on Iran nuclear ahead of today’s meeting

US speaks on Iran nuclear ahead of today’s meeting

The United States has warned that upcoming high-level talks with Iran scheduled for Sunday may be the final round if no meaningful progress is made.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff stated that the talks, set to take place in Oman, must be productive or “they won’t continue,” and that Washington will be forced to “take a different route.”

Witkoff emphasized that the US had postponed previous talks to first reach key understandings with Iran to ensure future discussions are substantive.

“Hopefully this Sunday they will be productive. Hopefully that means they will continue those talks,” he said.

According to sources familiar with the plans, only top-level officials will attend the talks. The technical negotiating teams — typically responsible for detailed discussions on issues like sanctions relief — will not be present. One source confirmed the talks would include both direct and indirect exchanges.
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Witkoff laid out US expectations more explicitly than before, stating: “An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That’s our red line. No enrichment. That means dismantlement, it means no weaponization, and it means that Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan—those are their three enrichment facilities—have to be dismantled.”

Iran has long insisted on its right to enrich uranium. “Iran has every right to possess the full nuclear fuel cycle,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X last week. Araghchi is expected to meet Witkoff during the Sunday talks.

Drawing a parallel to US diplomacy with Russia, Witkoff suggested that incentives might be offered to Iran in return for nuclear compliance. “We’re inviting Iran to be a member of the league of nations,” he said. “We’re saying to Iran: ‘You can be a better nation. We can do business with you. We can have strategic relationships with you. But you can’t be a provocateur.’”

Witkoff also confirmed that Iran reiterated it does not seek a nuclear weapon, a position Tehran has maintained for years.

The envoy clarified that the discussions are strictly focused on the nuclear issue, separating them from broader concerns about Iran’s regional behavior. “Do we think they need to stop enabling Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and pulling back from being a provocateur? We do. But that’s a secondary discussion,” he said. “The nuclear issue is the existential one — it must be solved now, and it must be solved quickly.”

US speaks on Iran nuclear ahead of today’s meeting