Iran promises flexibility at nuclear talks amid threat of US strikes – SABC News

Iran pledged to show flexibility at the talks with the United States (US) on their longstanding nuclear dispute.
Tehran is under pressure to agree to a deal or face US military strikes.
The third round of talks in Geneva, which began on Thursday morning, will discuss Iran’s nuclear programme against the backdrop of a huge US military buildup in the Middle East ordered by President Donald Trump.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that Iran’s refusal to discuss its ballistic missile programme was a “major problem” that would have to be addressed eventually, as the missiles were “designed solely to strike America” and pose a threat to regional stability.
“If you can’t even make progress on the nuclear program, it’s going to be hard to make progress on the ballistic missiles as well,” Rubio told reporters in Saint Kitts.Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told Press TV on Thursday that the negotiations would focus solely on nuclear topics and the lifting of sanctions, and said Tehran goes into them with “seriousness and flexibility”.
IMPASSE ON NUCLEAR PROGRAM
The two countries renewed negotiations this month, seeking to break a decades-long impasse over Tehran’s nuclear program, which Washington, other Western states and Israel believe is aimed at building nuclear arms.
Tehran denies this. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were due to attend the indirect talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, a US official said.
The meeting follows discussions in Geneva last week and will again be mediated by Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi.
Trump briefly laid out his case for a possible attack on Iran in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, underlining that while he preferred a diplomatic solution, he would not allow Tehran to obtain a nuclear weapon.
He has deployed fighter jets, aircraft carrier strike groups, as well as destroyers and cruisers in the region, hoping to pressure Iran into concessions.
On Wednesday evening, Araqchi and Albusaidi discussed the proposals Iran will put forward to reach an agreement, according to a statement posted on X by Oman’s foreign ministry.

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