The talk of renewed nuclear diplomacy between Iran and the United States has gained pace, with Reuters reporting that a meeting could take place in Turkey in the coming days as tensions rise over Tehran’s nuclear program and the US military buildup in the region.
Iran is weighing the terms for resuming negotiations soon, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Monday, after both sides signaled readiness to revive stalled diplomacy and avert fears of a new regional conflict.
A senior Iranian official and a Western diplomat told Reuters that US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi could meet in Turkey, stressing Ankara’s potential role as a venue for renewed talks.
A Turkish ruling party official told Reuters that Tehran and Washington had agreed the discussions would focus on diplomacy, offering a potential reprieve from fears of US strikes.
Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi, who was in Turkey last week, said his country’s missile and defense capabilities would “never” be on the negotiating table.
The report comes amid heightened tensions following a violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in Iran last month, the deadliest unrest since the 1979 revolution, and a subsequent deployment of US naval forces near Iran’s coast.
US President Donald Trump has demanded nuclear concessions from Tehran, including zero uranium enrichment, limits on Iran’s ballistic missile program and an end to its support for regional proxy groups.
Iran has rejected all three demands as unacceptable infringements on its sovereignty, although two Iranian officials told Reuters that Tehran views restrictions on its missile program as a larger obstacle than uranium enrichment.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran was considering “various dimensions” of potential talks, stressing that Tehran wants sanctions lifted quickly.
An Iranian official said Iran was prepared to show flexibility on uranium enrichment, including handing over 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium and accepting a zero-enrichment arrangement under an international consortium.
However, he added Tehran wants US military assets moved away from its borders before talks resume.
“Now the ball is in Trump’s court,” the Iranian official said.
Tehran’s regional influence has been weakened in recent months by Israeli attacks on its allies, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, as well as the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a close Iranian ally.
After five rounds of talks stalled since May 2023, major disputes remain, including Iran’s insistence on maintaining uranium enrichment on its soil and its refusal to ship abroad its entire stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Iran says enrichment has stopped since US strikes on three nuclear sites in June, though the United Nations nuclear watchdog has repeatedly pressed Tehran to clarify what happened to its stockpile.
Western countries fear Iran’s enrichment could yield material for a nuclear warhead, while Iran insists its program is for civilian purposes such as electricity generation.
Iranian sources told Reuters that Tehran could ship enriched uranium abroad and pause enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.