Steve Witkoff, U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East (left), and Abbas Araghchi, Iranian Foreign Minister. Photo by AFP Yonhap News
The fifth round of nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran will be held in Rome, Italy, on the 23rd (local time), according to Oman, the mediating country, on the 21st.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi announced this on X (formerly Twitter) on the same day, as reported by AFP and other outlets.
The United States and Iran held their first round of nuclear talks last month on the 12th in Muscat, Oman, mediated by Oman and attended by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, representing President Donald Trump. The two sides then met for a second time in Rome on the 19th of the same month. The third round of negotiations took place again in Muscat on the 26th of the same month, alongside a technical experts' meeting, and both parties held the fourth round of talks in Muscat on the 11th of this month.
Both sides have responded positively to the negotiations so far, but they remain at odds over whether Iran's uranium enrichment program should continue.
Under the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) reached in 2015, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium within agreed limits on concentration and stockpile. However, this time, the United States is demanding the complete termination of the program. After the first Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear agreement in 2018, Iran accelerated its enrichment program and has since raised its enrichment levels to the point where it can reach weapons-grade uranium in a short period of time.
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