Araghchi to Depart for Geneva This Afternoon

Seyed Abbas Araghchi, the Foreign Minister of our country, will head a political delegation to Geneva to take part in the third round of talks with the United States.

According to Rokna, the third round of Iran–U.S. negotiations is scheduled to be held on Thursday morning, mediated by Oman, at the Omani residence in Geneva.

Following the second round of negotiations, Araghchi announced that the two sides had reached an understanding on general guiding principles for continuing the talks and that work would be undertaken on various aspects of the agreement and its draft prior to the third round.

Although Iran and the United States assessed the process of discussions and exchange of views after the second round of indirect negotiations as positive, it appears that, given the positions and statements made by both sides over the past week, the process will remain difficult.

Donald Trump, President of the United States, in anti-Iran remarks delivered early Wednesday Tehran time before the U.S. Congress, raised significant allegations regarding Iran’s regional actions, domestic issues, missile development, and military strikes against nuclear sites.

He claimed: Following Operation Midnight Hammer, they were warned not to build a nuclear weapon, but they are seeking to restart their nuclear program. At this very moment, they are pursuing their malign objectives. We are negotiating with them. The Iranians are seeking an agreement, but we have not yet heard statements indicating a decision by the Iranians not to pursue the construction of a nuclear weapon.

Referring to the ongoing negotiations with Iran, Trump stated: My preference is to resolve this issue through diplomacy, but I will never allow the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism to obtain a nuclear weapon.

It should be noted that the U.S. President’s statement that Iran must declare it will not obtain a nuclear weapon refers to “zero enrichment” in Iran, which has been firmly rejected by officials of our country.

Seyed Abbas Araghchi, in an interview with the program Face the Nation on CBS News, emphasizing that “uranium enrichment is our right and we are entitled to benefit from peaceful energy,” stated: A solution can be reached regarding the issue of enrichment, and we have exchanged our proposals with the American side in this regard.

It is noteworthy that Donald Trump, weeks ago, undertook a significant deployment of naval and air forces to the region with the aim of threatening and intimidating Iran and gaining leverage at the negotiating table. This move has drawn reactions from Iran and countries in the region and has even faced serious opposition within U.S. public opinion and among officials in Trump’s own administration.

American media outlets in recent days, citing General Dan Caine, reported that he informed President Donald Trump and senior officials that a military campaign against Iran could entail significant risks. Although Trump denied these positions and claimed that such reports were published by fake media, conflicting voices on the matter continue to be heard in the United States.

It should be noted that General Dan Caine was responsible for the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in Khordad of the current year.

In another development ahead of Thursday’s negotiations, some regional media outlets speculated about the travel of Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council to one of the regional countries.

The Emirati newspaper The National reported on Tuesday that Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and a senior adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, traveled to Muscat to convey Iran’s position regarding the nuclear negotiations. Omani sources also announced on Monday that Ali Larijani would present Iran’s final response to the U.S. request on Tuesday.

It should be noted that Iranian officials have so far neither confirmed nor denied the travel of the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council to present Iran’s proposed text.

The Foreign Minister of our country, in his interview with CBS News regarding the “elements” of a potential agreement with the United States, stated: I have experience with that agreement (the JCPOA) and played a role in negotiating it. We went into a great deal of detail, but I think there is no need for that much detail now. We can reach agreement on principles and fundamental issues and ensure that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful and will remain peaceful forever, while more sanctions are also lifted.

Araghchi also, in response to a question regarding U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s claim that “any meaningful agreement with Iran” must also include Iran’s regional policies and missile capabilities, said: At present, we are only negotiating on the nuclear issue and no other subject is under discussion.

It should be noted that Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, will be present at the third round of Geneva negotiations between Tehran and Washington.

In an interview, he stated that the success of the diplomatic process between Iran and the United States to resolve the nuclear issue, given the threats of war.