Key points
- Russia was party to the 2015 nuclear deal
- Beijing, Moscow have engaged Tehran in recent weeks on nuclear programme
- First meeting with Iranian FM was positive, constructive, compelling: Witkoff
ISLAMABAD: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will travel to Moscow this week for consultations over Iran’s nuclear talks with the United States, Iran and Russia have announced.
Araghchi will visit the Iranian ally later this week, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.
The announcement of the trip – during which Araghchi will meet his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, Moscow said – came as details emerged regarding a second set of talks between Iran and the United States to follow up on an initial meeting over the weekend in Oman, according to Al Jazeera.
“The first meeting was positive, constructive, compelling,” Witkoff said in a Fox News interview on Monday.
Any nuclear deal between the United States and Iran “is going to be much about verification on the enrichment programme”, he said, appearing to stop short of calling for a complete dismantling of Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Back into spotlight
US President Donald Trump, who withdrew from the 2015 deal, has brought Iran back into the spotlight since returning to office in January, AFP reported.
In March, he sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling for nuclear talks and warning of possible military action if Tehran refused.
Russia, a close ally of Iran and party to the 2015 deal, and China have engaged with Tehran in recent weeks over its nuclear programme.
“Dr Araghchi will travel to Moscow at the end of the week,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, adding that the pre-planned trip would be “an opportunity to discuss the latest developments related to the Muscat talks”.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Araghchi would meet his Russian counterpart Lavrov and other officials.
“Constructive”
Iran and the United States have both described Saturday’s discussions as “constructive”.
Moscow welcomed the Iran-US talks as it pushed for a diplomatic solution and warned that military confrontation would be a “global catastrophe”.
Another round of talks between Iran and the United States is to be held in Oman on Saturday, the foreign ministry spokesman told the official IRNA news agency. Rome had earlier been cited as a possible venue.
“Red lines”
Baqaei said the next set of talks would continue to be indirect with Omani mediation, adding that direct talks were “not effective” and “not useful”. Oman’s foreign minister shuttled between the two delegations at the last talks.
Baqaei had previously said the only focus of the next talks would be “the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions”, and that Iran “will not have any talks with the American side on any other issue”.
Late Sunday, IRNA reported that Tehran’s regional influence and its missile capabilities were among its “red lines” in the talks.
Washington reinstated biting sanctions on Tehran following its withdrawal from the 2015 deal three years later.
“Easy one”
Iran continued to adhere to the agreement for a year after Trump’s withdrawal but later began rolling back its compliance.
Iran has consistently denied it is seeking nuclear weapons.
Trump addressed reporters on Monday regarding Iran, saying “I’ll solve that problem” and “That’s almost an easy one”.
Baqaei reiterated that Iran would host United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi in the coming days but noted that the details of his trip were still “to be decided on”.
In a post on X, Grossi confirmed that he would be heading to Tehran “later this week”.
Timely to welcome Iran’s Ambassador Reza Najafi to @IAEAorg for the presentation of his credentials, ahead of my travel to Tehran 🇮🇷 later this week. Continued engagement and cooperation with the Agency is essential at a time when diplomatic solutions are urgently needed. pic.twitter.com/2I5lIfITHd
— Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) April 14, 2025
“Continued engagement and cooperation with the Agency is essential at a time when diplomatic solutions are urgently needed,” he said.
