The United States and Iran seek a "short-term agreement"

BarcelonaThe United States and Iran met this Saturday in Muscat, the capital of Oman, in a first round of contacts to try to reach a new agreement. on Tehran's controversial nuclear program. The meeting, their first official negotiation in seven years, lasted two hours, and the delegations from both countries left with the commitment to meet again next week.

Hanging over the table was Trump's threat, who had warned that if the talks failed, would militarily attack Iran. But this did not prevent the tone from being conciliatory, and the delegations from describing the meeting as "productive." For Washington, it represented "a step forward toward achieving a mutually beneficial outcome." For Tehran as well: "I believe we are very close to a basis for negotiations, and if we can finalize this basis next week, we will have come a long way and can start real discussions based on this," argued Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on state television. Both sides agreed to continue talks next Saturday, as they seek a "short-term agreement," Araghchi added.

The Iranian delegation, led by Araghchi, arrived in Oman seeking a "serious and equitable" agreement that would lift US sanctions on the country; while the US delegation, led by Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, He wanted a better deal than the last one, sealed by Barack Obama.Each met individually with Oman's foreign minister, who acted as an intermediary.

Witkoff reiterated to Araghchi that she had "directed President Trump to resolve, if possible, the differences between our two nations through dialogue and diplomacy," according to a statement issued by the White House.

Lifting sanctions, Iran's priority

The central focus of the talks has been the de-escalation of tensions, the exchange of prisoners, and reaching limited agreements to ease sanctions against Iran in exchange for concessions on its nuclear program, Omani diplomatic sources told Reuters. It was Donald Trump himself, during his previous term, who withdrew the US from the agreement signed between Iran and other world powers in 2018 and reinstated economic sanctions against Tehran.

Although there appears to be a chance of understanding this time, the positions of the two delegations remain distant in a dispute that has lasted more than two decades. Tehran maintains that its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes and that it is not attempting to develop nuclear weapons. However, several international actors, including the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United States, suspect that it is lying and is covertly developing the means to build an atomic bomb. In fact, there are indications that since the US withdrew from the previous agreement with Iran, Tehran has installed thousands of advanced centrifuges, purification machines for enriching uranium, a procedure necessary for nuclear weapons.