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Iran and the United States have found common ground on key “guiding principles” during discussions aimed at resolving their longstanding nuclear dispute. However, this progress does not suggest that a comprehensive agreement is on the horizon, according to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Following Araghchi’s remarks on Tuesday, oil futures experienced a decline, with the benchmark Brent crude contract dropping by over 1%. This development helped alleviate concerns about potential conflict in the region, where the US has stationed a battle force to encourage Tehran to make concessions.
“Various ideas have been proposed and seriously deliberated upon, and ultimately, we have managed to reach a general consensus on some guiding principles,” Araghchi stated to Iranian media after the conclusion of the talks in Geneva.
An anonymous US official indicated that Iran is expected to present detailed proposals within the next two weeks, aiming to bridge the gaps in the nuclear discussions.
“While progress has been made, there remains a considerable amount of detail to work through,” the official commented, opting to remain unnamed.
The indirect discussions between US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, alongside Araghchi, were mediated by Oman.
Oman’s foreign minister Badr al-Busaidi said in a post on X “much work is yet to be done” but Iran and the US were leaving with “clear next steps” .
Just as talks began on Tuesday, Iranian state media said Iran would temporarily shut part of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global oil supply route, due to “security precautions” while Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards conducted military drills there.
Tehran has in the past threatened to shut down the strait to commercial shipping if it is attacked, a move that would choke off a fifth of global oil flows and drive up crude prices.
Responding to comments by Trump that “regime change” in Iran might be the best course, the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that any US attempts to depose his government would fail.
“The US president says their army is the world’s strongest, but the strongest army in the world can sometimes be slapped so hard it cannot get up,” he said, in comments published by Iranian media.
Speaking at a disarmament conference in Geneva after the talks, Araghchi said that a “new window of opportunity” had opened and that he hoped discussions would lead to a “sustainable” solution that ensured the full recognition of Iran’s legitimate rights.
Earlier, Trump said he himself would be involved “indirectly” in the Geneva talks and that he believed Tehran wanted to make a deal.
“I don’t think they want the consequences of not making a deal,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday.
“We could have had a deal instead of sending the B-2s in to knock out their nuclear potential. And we had to send the B-2s.”
The US joined Israel last June in bombing Iranian nuclear facilities. The US and Israel believe Iran aspires to build a nuclear weapon that could threaten Israel’s existence.
Since those strikes, Iran’s rulers have been weakened by street protests, suppressed at a cost of thousands of lives, against a cost-of-living crisis driven in part by international sanctions that have strangled Iran’s oil income.
Washington has sought to expand the scope of talks to non-nuclear issues such as Iran’s missile stockpile.
Tehran says it is willing only to discuss curbs on its nuclear program — in exchange for sanctions relief — and that it will not give up uranium enrichment completely or discuss its missile program.
Khamenei reiterated Iran’s position that its formidable missile stockpile is non-negotiable and missile type and range have nothing to do with the United States.
A senior Iranian official told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday that the success of the Geneva talks hinged on the US not making unrealistic demands and on its seriousness on lifting the crippling sanctions on Iran.
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