 "An AI-generated image portraying US-Iran standoff over Iran's nuclear programme.")
High-stakes talks between the United States and Iran over the latter’s nuclear programme ended on Thursday without a deal or a breakthrough. The stalemate that emerged from the meeting is concerning since it came at a time when Washington is weighing a military operation that would mark its largest intervention in West Asia in decades.
Soon after the meeting, the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, released a statement, claiming that “ good progress ” had been made at the talks. Meanwhile, Omani mediators predicted negotiations would reconvene at a technical level next week in Vienna.
However, there was no immediate evidence to support the suggestion that the two sides reached some sort of a deal or a breakthrough. The fundamental issue of whether Iran has the right to enrich uranium and the future of its highly enriched uranium stocks remains contentious.
Iran is weighing economic incentives
According to a report by the Financial Times, Tehran is reportedly weighing economic incentives to entice US President Donald Trump in a bid to avoid a full-blown conflict. It is pertinent to note that the Geneva talks marked a third round of indirect US-Iran contacts using Omani mediation.
People familiar with the matter told the Financial Times on Thursday that Tehran is considering pitching a potential “commercial bonanza” to Washington – involving oil, gas, and mining projects. However, Iran has not made any formal offer in this regard.
A senior US official, on the other hand, told the outlet that no such proposals had been discussed. “[Iran is] looking at Venezuela as a case study,” one source said, referring to Trump’s push for US companies to secure oil deals in the Latin American country after US forces kidnapped President Nicolas Maduro last month.
In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump accused Tehran of “sinister” nuclear ambitions and warned that it has limited time to reach a deal, adding that he prefers a diplomatic solution. Iran has insisted that its program is civilian and that it will continue uranium enrichment, even though its nuclear facilities were damaged during last year’s 12-day war, when the US and Israel hit sites across the country.