Iran says energy, mining and aircraft deals on table in US talks

• Iran and US to hold further talks in Geneva
• Tehran signals flexibility on nuclear programme
• Iran says a deal must deliver gains for both sides

Iran is pursuing a nuclear agreement with the US that delivers economic benefits for both sides, an Iranian diplomat was reported as saying on Sunday, days before a second round of talks between Tehran and Washington.

Iran and the US renewed negotiations earlier this month to tackle their decades-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme and avert a new military confrontation.

The US has dispatched a second aircraft carrier to the region and is preparing for the possibility of a sustained military campaign if the talks do not succeed, US officials have told Reuters.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking at a news conference in Bratislava, said President Donald Trump had made it clear that he would prefer diplomacy and a negotiated settlement, while making clear that may not happen.

“No one’s ever been able to do a successful deal with Iran but we’re going to try,” Rubio said.

Iran has threatened to strike US bases in the Middle East if it is attacked by US forces but on Sunday took a conciliatory line.

“For the sake of an agreement’s durability, it is essential that the US also benefits in areas with high and quick economic returns,” foreign ministry deputy director for economic diplomacy Hamid Ghanbari said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

“Common interests in the oil and gas fields, joint fields, mining investments, and even aircraft purchases are included in the negotiations,” Ghanbari said, arguing that the 2015 nuclear pact with world powers had not secured US economic interests.

In 2018, Trump withdrew the US from the pact that had eased sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme, and re-applied tough economic sanctions on Tehran.

On Friday, a source told Reuters that a US delegation including envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would meet Iranian officials in Geneva on Tuesday, a meeting later confirmed to Reuters by a senior Iranian official on Sunday.

“Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be traveling, I think they are traveling right now, to have important meetings and we’ll see how that turns out,” Rubio said, without providing further details.

While talks leading to the 2015 nuclear pact were multilateral, the current negotiations are confined to Iran and the US, with Oman acting as mediator.

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Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi left Tehran for Geneva to take part in the indirect nuclear talks with the US and meet the head of the UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency, and others, his ministry said.

Deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi signalled Iran’s readiness to compromise on its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief, telling the BBC on Sunday that the ball was “in America’s court to prove that they want to do a deal.”

The senior official referred to the Iranian atomic chief’s statement on Monday that the country could agree to dilute its most highly enriched uranium in exchange for the lifting of sanctions as an example of Iran’s flexibility.

However, he reiterated that Tehran would not accept zero uranium enrichment, a key sticking point in past negotiations, with Washington viewing enrichment inside Iran as a potential pathway to nuclear weapons. Iran denies seeking such weapons.

In June, the US joined Israel in a series of air strikes that targeted Iranian nuclear sites.

The US is also stepping up economic pressure on Iran. At a White House meeting earlier this week, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed that the US would work to reduce Iran’s oil exports to China, Axios reported on Saturday.

China accounts for more than 80% of Iran’s oil exports so any reduction in that trade would significantly lower Iran’s oil revenue.