Iran and the United States began a fourth round of talks on Tehran's nuclear program today, officials said, ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East.
The new round is being held again in Oman, and the mediator will likely be the country's foreign minister, Badr el Busaidi.
US officials believe there will be both direct and indirect talks, but as with previous times in Muscat and Rome, very few details are known.
The aim of the talks is to limit Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some economic sanctions imposed by the US on Tehran.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to launch airstrikes on Iran's program if a deal is not reached.
Iranian officials, on the other hand, threaten to continue enriching uranium to the level needed for nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, Israel has threatened to attack Iran's nuclear facilities itself if it feels threatened, further complicating tensions in the Middle East that have already been heightened by the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Iranian state television announced that negotiations had begun. The American side has not commented.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will again participate in the negotiations.
Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers limited Tehran's uranium enrichment to 3,67 percent and reduced its stockpile of uranium to 300 kilograms. That level is sufficient for nuclear power plants but far below the weapons-grade level of 90 percent.
However, Iran has exceeded that limit since Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the deal and imposed sanctions on Iran in 2018 during his first term. Iran has enriched uranium to 60 percent so far.
Although several rounds of negotiations have been held, as time goes by it seems that the two sides are still far from any agreement.
Iranian media reported on the two-month deadline imposed by Trump in his letter to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Trump said he wrote the letter on March 5, which arrived in Iran via a UAE diplomat on March 12 — theoretically setting a deadline of Monday, Trump departs Washington for a trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
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