This handout image shows the US aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford heading through the Strait of Gibraltar as seen from Gibraltar. AFP
Speaking to CBS News on Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said details of a possible deal were being drawn up ahead of the renewed talks on Tehran's nuclear programme, as Washington's envoy Steve Witkoff pondered why Tehran had not yet "capitulated".
Badr Albusaidi, foreign minister of regional mediator Oman, said talks would resume on Thursday in Geneva "with a positive push to go the extra mile towards finalising the deal".
The negotiations come despite repeated US threats to attack Iran over its nuclear programme, including warnings from President Donald Trump of possible strikes if Tehran does not accept Washington’s terms and a substantial US military presence in the region that Iranian officials have described as coercive.
"If the US attacks us, then we have every right to defend ourselves," Araghchi said, alluding to American interests in the region as potential targets.
Still, he said, "there is a good chance to have a diplomatic solution".
In a social media post, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian likewise said previous talks "yielded encouraging signals".
After a recent round of discussions in Geneva, Iran said it was preparing a draft proposal for an agreement that would avert military action.
"I believe that when we meet, probably this Thursday in Geneva again, we can work on those elements and prepare a good text and come to a fast deal," Araghchi told CBS.
Axios had earlier reported, citing an unnamed senior US official, that if Iran submitted its proposal in the next 48 hours, Washington was ready to meet again later in the week "to start detailed negotiations".
The US has sent two aircraft carriers to the Middle East in recent weeks, along with other jets and ships, and has also shored up its air defences in the region to back up its threats of military intervention.
Witkoff, Trump’s chief Middle East negotiator, said Saturday in a Fox News interview that the president was questioning why Iran had not yet given in to the pressure.
"He's curious as to why they haven't... I don't want to use the word 'capitulated', but why they haven't capitulated," he said.
"Why haven't they come to us and said, 'We profess we don't want a weapon, so here's what we're prepared to do'?"
Western governments allege Iran's nuclear programme is aimed at developing a bomb, while Iran has denied such allegations, insisting on its right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes.
On the subject of uranium enrichment, Araghchi said Sunday that Iran had "every right to decide for ourselves".
A previous round of diplomacy last year collapsed after Israel, a key US ally and the region’s only nuclear power, launched a large-scale bombing campaign against the Islamic republic. The assault ignited a 12-day war in June, which the United States briefly joined with strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Despite the recent Oman-mediated talks, fears of a new conflict have grown, prompting several foreign governments, including Sweden, Serbia, Poland and Australia, to urge their citizens to leave Iran amid concerns over security and potential escalation.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
Short link: