TEHRAN:&nbsp;Iran on Friday said it expected to hold more negotiations with the United States after a day of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/iran-fm-calls-for-mutual-respect-ahead-of-talks-with-us" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">indirect talks in Oman&nbsp;</a>seen as a critical chance for diplomacy after President Donald Trump threatened new military action against Tehran.&nbsp;With an American naval group led by an aircraft carrier in Middle Eastern waters,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/iran-us-talks-to-be-held-friday-in-oman-iranian-media" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">US and Iranian delegations</a>&nbsp;held talks in Muscat mediated by the Gulf sultanate without publicly meeting face-to-face.&nbsp;Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led Iran&#39;s delegation in Muscat, said talks solely focused on the nuclear issue, after the US had indicated Tehran&#39;s backing for militant groups and its ballistic missile programme also needed to be on the agenda.&nbsp;The talks were the first between the two foes since the United States joined Israel&#39;s war with Iran in June with strikes on nuclear sites.&nbsp;They also come just under a month after Iranian authorities launched a crackdown on protests that left thousands dead according to rights groups.&nbsp;US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, accompanied by Trump&#39;s influential son-in-law Jared Kushner, led Washington&#39;s delegation at the talks.&nbsp;&quot;In a very positive atmosphere, our arguments were exchanged and the views of the other side were shared with us,&quot; Araghchi told Iranian state TV, adding that the two sides had &quot;agreed to continue negotiations, but we will decide on the modalities and timing at a later date&quot;.&nbsp;&quot;The way forward will depend on our consultations with capitals,&quot; he added after the talks concluded.&nbsp;&quot;Our discussions are focused exclusively on the nuclear issue and we are not addressing any other subject with the Americans,&quot; Araghchi told the official IRNA news agency.&nbsp;In a symbol of the potential for US military action, Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of US Central Command, whose area of responsibility includes the Middle East, was also present at the talks, according to images published by the Oman news agency.&nbsp;A source with knowledge of the talks told AFP that the meetings took place at the residence of Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi.&nbsp;&#39;Don&#39;t want us to hit them&#39;&nbsp;Multiple sessions of talks in the morning and afternoon saw both sides shuttling to and from the residence of Albusaidi who appeared to be acting as mediator and passing on messages.&nbsp;Writing on X, Albusaidi described the talks as &quot;very serious&quot;.&nbsp;&quot;It was useful to clarify both Iranian and American thinking and identify areas for possible progress. We aim to reconvene in due course, with the results to be considered carefully in Tehran and Washington.&quot;&nbsp;The White House has made clear it wants the talks to rein in Tehran&#39;s ability to make a nuclear bomb, an ambition the Islamic republic has always denied.&nbsp;The US delegation intended to explore &quot;zero nuclear capacity&quot; for Iran, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, warning that Trump had &quot;many options at his disposal aside from diplomacy&quot;.&nbsp;&quot;They&#39;re negotiating,&quot; Trump said of Iran on Thursday.&nbsp;&quot;They don&#39;t want us to hit them, we have a big fleet going there,&quot; he added, referring to the aircraft carrier group he has repeatedly called an &quot;armada&quot;.&nbsp;There was no immediate comment from the American delegation in Muscat.&nbsp;&#39;Compromise or war&#39;&nbsp;The meeting comes just under a month after the peak of a wave of nationwide protests in Iran against the clerical leadership, which rights groups say were repressed with an unprecedented crackdown that has left thousands dead.&nbsp;Trump initially threatened military action against Tehran over its crackdown on protesters and even told demonstrators &quot;help is on its way&quot;.&nbsp;The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said that according to its latest toll 6,495 protesters were confirmed to have been killed as well as 214 members of the security forces and 61 bystanders.&nbsp;But it and other rights groups warn that the final toll risks being far higher, with the magnitude of the crackdown masked by the blanket internet shutdown imposed by the authorities for a fortnight.&nbsp;But Trump&#39;s rhetoric in recent days has focused on reining in the Iranian nuclear programme and the US has manoeuvered a naval group led by aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln into the region.&nbsp;Iran has repeatedly vowed it will hit back at US bases if attacked.&nbsp;&quot;We are ready to defend and it is the US president who must choose between compromise or war,&quot; state television on Thursday quoted army spokesman General Mohammad Akraminia as saying, warning that Iran has &quot;easy&quot; access to US regional bases.&nbsp;The US initially wanted to hold the talks in Turkey, include regional countries and explicitly expand the agenda beyond nuclear but then had to change course due to Iranian demands, a regional source close to the talks told AFP.

Central Asia

Americas

Iran says it expects further talks with the United States after indirect Oman negotiations, focused on the nuclear issue, as Washington warns of military options and both sides signal cautious openness to continued diplomacy efforts.

Iran FM says agreed with US to 'proceed with negotiations'

GENEVA: A senior US official on Friday criticised the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-urges-new-nuclear-treaty-after-russia-agreement-ends" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">last nuclear treaty </a>between Russia and the United States for <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/last-usrussia-nuclear-treaty-ends-in-grave-moment-for-world" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">failing to include Beijing</a>, speaking at the United Nations a day after the New START deal expired.&nbsp;&quot;In a nutshell, New START was flawed,&quot; said Thomas G. DiNanno, US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, pointing out that it had not covered all nuclear weapons, &quot;and it didn&#39;t include China&quot;.&nbsp;Speaking to reporters in Geneva before addressing the Conference on Disarmament, he said US President Donald Trump &quot;has been pretty clear that he wants a better agreement&quot;, and &quot;clarified again last night that he wants a new treaty&quot;.&nbsp;&quot;He&#39;s been crystal clear. He&#39;s been consistent on it too, since his first administration,&quot; DiNanno said.&nbsp;&quot;So we&#39;ll see how it plays out.&quot;&nbsp;Asked if China had agreed to anything, DiNanno said: &quot;We&#39;re always willing to talk to them.&quot;&nbsp;China said on Thursday it would not join nuclear talks &quot;at this stage&quot; after the treaty&#39;s expiry that day triggered fears of a new global arms race.&nbsp;Campaigners have warned that the expiry, which ended decades of restrictions on how many warheads Russia and the United States deploy, could encourage China to expand its own arsenal.&nbsp;The New START treaty ended at the turn of the calendar on February 5, after Trump did not follow up on Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin&#39;s proposal to extend warhead limits in the agreement for one year.&nbsp;Russia and the United States together control more than 80 percent of the world&#39;s nuclear warheads, but arms agreements have been withering away.&nbsp;New START, first signed in 2010, limited each side&#39;s nuclear arsenal to 1,550 deployed strategic warheads -- a reduction of nearly 30 percent from the previous limit set in 2002.&nbsp;It also allowed each side to conduct on-site inspections of the other&#39;s nuclear arsenal, although these were suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic and have not resumed since.&nbsp;The Conference on Disarmament negotiating forum, which is comprised of 65 member states and meets in Geneva.

China

A senior US official says the expired New START nuclear treaty is flawed for excluding China, as Washington pushes for a new deal and Beijing refuses talks, raising fears of a renewed global arms race.

Articles tagged with "Nuclear Treaty"

Iran FM says agreed with US to 'proceed with negotiations'

New START nuclear treaty 'was flawed': senior US official

Iran FM says agreed with US to 'proceed with negotiations'