Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iran confirms Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will negotiate with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, but pushes back on President Trump’s claim of direct talks between Iran and US.
By World Israel News Staff
The U.S. and Iran are set to begin nuclear talks over the weekend, Iranian state media confirmed on Tuesday, though Iran denied claims by President Donald Trump that the two sides are slated to engage in “direct talks.”
On Monday, Trump told reporters during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that despite saber-rattling by both sides last week, his administration had secured Iran’s agreement to engage in “direct talks” with the White House on a new nuclear deal beginning this coming Saturday.
“We’re having direct talks with Iran, and they’ve started. It’ll go on Saturday,” Trump said.
“We have a very big meeting, and we’ll see what can happen. And I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable.”
A day later, Iranian state media confirmed that Tehran is slated to begin nuclear talks with the U.S. on Saturday.
The talks will be led by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and White House special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, who was involved in hostage deal talks between Israel and Hamas.
However, Iran disputed Trump’s claim that the talks would be “direct,” with Araghchi emphasizing in a tweet early Tuesday morning that while the negotiations would be “high-level,” they would also be indirect.
“Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks,” the Iranian foreign minister wrote. “It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America’s court.”
Oman, which will host the talks, is also expected to mediate them, Iran said, claiming that Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi will broker the negotiations.
Despite Araghchi’s denial Tuesday morning, a report published by The New York Times cited three Iranian officials who claimed that Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has dropped his opposition to direct talks with the U.S.
The sources added that while the initial talks in Oman will indeed be indirect, they will serve as a test of the viability of direct negotiations, which could be initiated afterwards.
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