ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said US and Iranian negotiators agreed on “guiding principles” for a nuclear deal on Tuesday, signalling progress despite persisting tensions.
Speaking to Iranian media after holding indirect talks with the US at the Omanian embassy in Geneva, Araghchi said both sides will exchange draft texts before setting a date for the next round of indirect talks. US negotiators have not commented on the talks.
Oman has mediated negotiations between Tehran and Washington, which is demanding Iran curb its uranium enrichment, while Iran insists its program is conducted for peaceful purposes.
Araghchi said "good progress" was made on Tuesday, adding that they now have "a clearer and, in my view, positive path ahead."
Negotiators “were able to reach a general understanding on a set of guiding principles that will serve as the basis for moving forward and entering into the drafting of a potential agreement,” Araghchi said.
Iran holds military drills during talks
Iran and the US have ratcheted up hostilities during the talks, with Iran temporarily blocking part of the Strait of Hormuz as Iran's Revolutionary Guards conducted military drills on Tuesday. One-fifth of the world’s oil is routed through the waterway, where US warships are also stationed.
Trump on Monday again threatened Iran with military action if a nuclear deal isn’t reached after warning of “very traumatic consequences” for Tehran last week. He said he hoped a deal would be finalized within a month.
Indirect talks began earlier this month in Oman between Iranian officials and US negotiators, led by Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
“Compared to the previous round, this session involved fully serious discussions and was conducted in a more constructive atmosphere,” he said, adding that “various ideas were put forward and thoroughly examined.”
No timetable set
Araghchi cautioned that an agreement was unlikely to be reached “quickly.”
“We hope to conclude it as soon as possible and are prepared to devote sufficient time to it. However, when it comes to drafting the text, the work becomes more detailed and complex,” he added.
Despite acknowledging progress in negotiations, Araghchi later on Tuesday criticized the US for threatening to attack Iran and mobilizing the US military. Addressing a United Nations conference on disarmament in Geneva, Araghchi said the threats and Trump’s decision to pull out of the 2015 nuclear agreement “seriously undermined the credibility of the negotiating process.”
Araghchi told the conference that Iran “neither seeks to manufacture nor to acquire nuclear weapons, which have no place whatsoever in Iran’s national security doctrine. This position is rooted in our defensive policy and reinforced by clear religious boundaries prohibiting weapons of mass destruction.”
Araghchi said he and US offiicals also met separately with International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi in Geneva, describing his talks with Grossi as “constructive.”