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The two will speak in both direct and indirect talks, according
to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity Friday
to describe private diplomatic contacts. It comes ahead of
Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab
Emirates next week.
Witkoff, in an interview with the conservative outlet Breitbart
News published Friday, ramped up U.S. demands for a deal. After
weeks of mixed messaging, he said the U.S. would not allow Iran
to maintain a uranium enrichment program, which had been a main
criticism of the 2015 nuclear deal reached during the Obama
administration.
That agreement, which Trump withdrew from in 2018 during his
first term, had allowed Iran to keep enriching uranium at low
levels. Critics said that allowed Tehran a pathway to eventual
nuclear weapons development.
“An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever
again,” Witkoff told Breitbart. “That’s our red line. No
enrichment. That means dismantlement, it means no weaponization,
and it means that Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan — those are their
three enrichment facilities — have to be dismantled.”
Witkoff also said that during the talks Iran had reiterated it
did not want to acquire a nuclear weapon, something that Iranian
officials have said for years.
“We believe that they cannot have enrichment, they cannot have
centrifuges, they cannot have anything that allows them to build
a weapon,” he said.
He added that if the talks on Sunday were not productive, “then
they won’t continue, and we’ll have to take a different route.”
Trump has imposed new sanctions on Iran as part of his “maximum
pressure” campaign. He has repeatedly suggested military action
against Iran remains a possibility, while emphasizing he still
believed a new deal could be reached after writing a letter to
Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iranian officials increasingly have threatened that they could
pursue a nuclear weapon.
Oman did not immediately acknowledge its hosting of the Sunday
talks.
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Lee reported from Washington.
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