The delegations of Iran and United States achieved a “significant breakthrough” in the negotiations held in Switzerland, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Oman, Badr Albusaidi, at the conclusion of the last round aimed at avoiding an armed conflict between both countries. The talks, mediated by Oman, took place under the pressure of threats from the US President Donald Trump, who the previous week gave Tehran a deadline of 15 days to reach an agreement. Tehran has insisted that the dialogue should focus exclusively on its nuclear program, while Washington demands that the development of Iranian missiles and support for armed groups in the region also be addressed. After the morning session at the Omani ambassador’s residence, both delegations consulted with their respective governments before resuming meetings in an environment of strict security. Albusaidi highlighted the “unprecedented openness to creative ideas and solutions” by both negotiating teams. According to the Omani minister, technical discussions will continue next week in Vienna. The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, participated in the meeting, as confirmed by sources close to the negotiations and Iranian media. We recommend reading: The same day, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s negotiating team plans to demand that Iran dismantle its three main nuclear facilities and hand over all remaining enriched uranium to the United States. Before the meeting, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that the Islamic Republic is not at all seeking to develop nuclear weapons. The context of the negotiations is marked by the largest US military deployment in the Middle East in decades. The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, considered the largest in the world, recently departed from a naval base in Crete. Currently, Washington maintains more than a dozen warships in the region, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, nine destroyers, and three additional combat ships. The simultaneous presence of two US aircraft carriers in this area is unusual.
In Iran, conversations happen after massive protests in which, according to human rights organizations, thousands of protesters were killed. The mobilizations, which resumed in universities in Tehran, have exposed divisions about the impact that a new armed conflict would have. A resident of the capital expressed that “there would be famine and people would suffer a lot”, although she expressed resignation at the possibility that the war will finally define the national destiny.
