Stopping nuclear weapons: US and Iran meet today in key meeting

BarcelonaThere isn't even a public agreement on the agenda, and the meeting was in jeopardy until the last minute due to disagreements over where it should be held. But despite the difficulties, the United States and Iran are finally meeting today in Muscat, the capital of Oman, to discuss the nuclear arsenals of both powers. Washington wants Tehran to limit its nuclear arsenal, but the ayatollahs' regime has opposed any agreement that could restrict its ability to control the region. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff are participating in today's talks. However, they will not meet face-to-face. According to Iran, the negotiations, which have not yet begun, will be conducted indirectly, with Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad acting as intermediary in El Busaidi. The meetings will take place against a backdrop of US threats in Iran, coming just weeks after the White House warned of military intervention in the country if authorities did not halt the brutal repression of protests against the Islamist regime. in which 6,300 people died – and another 17,000 cases are pending verification – according to the NGO Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)Under the pretext of pressuring Tehran in this regard, Washington has carried out an extensive military deployment in the Middle East. However, the US is also threatening Tehran with military action if the country's authorities are unwilling to reach an agreement to limit its development of nuclear weapons. Iran, from the outset, opposes any such agreement. However, before entering the summit, Minister Araghchi asserted that his country is participating in the negotiations "in good faith." He also made it clear that Iran will remain "firm" in its position and in upholding Iran's rights. Currently, there is no agreement between the two powers that limits the accumulation and refinement of their respective nuclear arsenals. In 2018, during Donald Trump's first term, the US unilaterally withdrew from the agreement that the White House had reached with Iran three years earlier to limit Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. Although there have been attempts to reach an agreement, so far it has not been possible.

In addition to limiting the nuclear program, Washington also seeks to get Iran to open negotiations regarding its ballistic missile program. This point is key to Tehran's desire to control the region, since it possesses missiles that can easily reach Israel. just as happened in June of last year during the twelve-day war After Tel Aviv launched an attack against Iran, the US would like to place limits on this issue as well, but Tehran has already made it clear that today's talks must be limited to the nuclear sphere. In Friday's talks, the US also wants to raise two other issues: Iran's support for armed groups like Hamas and the Ayatollahs' regime's repression of the protests in recent weeks. This was explained on Wednesday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, although Washington and Tehran did not ultimately agree on a specific agenda. A world without limits on nuclear weapons

The meeting between these two powers comes at a worrying time regarding the arms race. Beyond Iran, the New START treaty, an agreement between Russia and the US that limited their nuclear arsenals, expired this Thursday. Moscow had offered Washington a one-year extension of the agreement. Trump had rejected it, but in recent hours, during talks in Abu Dhabi on Ukraine, Americans and Russians have reportedly shown a willingness to respect the limits of the agreement. in the next six months and, during that time, negotiate a new treaty.