Shaun
A technical, expert-level nuclear meeting between Iran and the United States will be held on Saturday, coinciding with the third round of indirect talks mediated by Oman, Tehran announced Tuesday.
“The technical consultative meeting between the two countries, which was to be held as part of the indirect talks between the two sides on Wednesday, has been postponed to Saturday,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said.
He said the decision to reschedule the meeting was made “following Oman’s proposal and the agreement of the Iranian and American delegations.”
The reason for the delay was not immediately clear.
Tehran and Washington have held two rounds of indirect talks in Muscat and Rome since April 12, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff leading the negotiations.
The talks earlier this month in the Omani capital were the first discussions at such a high level between the foes since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear accord in 2018.
Following Saturday’s latest round in Rome, Araghchi said the meeting was “good” and that the negotiations were “moving forward.”
On Monday, Trump said Washington had “very good meetings” on Iran.
Western countries, including the United States and Israel, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons — an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, claiming that its program is for peaceful civilian purposes. However, Iran, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, has ramped up its enrichment of uranium to 60 percent purity, which has no application beyond nuclear weapons, and has obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities.
Later on Tuesday, Baqaei said Araghchi was heading to China for talks. Iran has in recent weeks engaged with its allies China and Russia over its nuclear program.
Before leaving for Beijing, Araghchi spoke with UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi and briefed him on the latest developments in talks with the United States, a foreign ministry statement said.
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