Iran has presented a proposal to the US side that is expected to serve as a practical test to gauge the American side’s “seriousness”, Iranian state media reported, as the two sides meet in Geneva for the nuclear talks on Thursday.
The state-run news agency IRNA, which is accompanying the Iranian delegation to Oman’s Embassy in Geneva, Switzerland for the third round of talks, reported the draft proposal was submitted to the US side through Omani mediators.
“Rejecting it would amount to confirming the initial suspicion that the United States is not genuinely committed to diplomacy and that its diplomatic posture is merely a game,” the agency said as the two sides prepare for the new and decisive round of negotiations.
It did not, however, disclose the content of the proposal.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, accompanied by a delegation that includes Majid Takht-Ravanchi, his deputy for political affairs, and a team of nuclear, legal and economic experts, arrived in Geneva on Wednesday evening.
Soon after his arrival, Araghchi met with his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi to discuss the contours of the talks and the draft proposal to be submitted to the US side.
According to Iranian media, during the meeting, Araghchi stressed that the success of the ongoing negotiations requires “seriousness from the other side” and avoiding “contradictory behaviour and positions”.
In a statement, Oman’s Foreign Ministry said the two diplomats reviewed views and proposals that the Iranian delegation will present in this round of talks with an aim to reach an agreement.
The Omani foreign minister said his country is committed to supporting and facilitating the ongoing dialogue between the US and Iran.
The draft proposal is based on guiding principles agreed to by the two sides in the previous round of negotiations.
According to media reports, Witkoff also met the Omani foreign minister following his arrival in Geneva on Thursday morning to exchange notes and receive the Iranian draft.
Ahead of his departure to Geneva, Araghchi said Iran will resume talks in Geneva “with a determination to achieve a fair and equitable deal in the shortest possible time”.
The new round of talks, he said, will be based “on the understandings forged in the previous rounds” in Muscat, Oman and Geneva, calling it “a historic opportunity to strike an unprecedented agreement”.
Following the last round of talks on February 17, the assessment was positive from both sides as they said to have agreed on guiding principles to reach a potential deal.
The indirect nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington come amid a massive US military buildup in the Gulf region and in the wake of a series of drills by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC).
