Shafaq News- Tehran (Updated at 20:12)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi departed for Geneva, Switzerland, on Sunday at the head of a diplomatic delegation to take part in the second round of talks with the United States scheduled for next week.
A statement from the country’s Foreign Ministry noted that Araghchi is expected to meet several international officials, including Switzerland’s foreign minister, Oman’s foreign minister, and the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), along with other representatives based in Switzerland, to review developments related to the nuclear file and other issues of mutual interest.
Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesperson for the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly, said that Iran’s negotiation team has prepared a package of proposals to present at the Geneva talks, aiming to speed up discussions and avoid delays.
According to Iran’s Fars News Agency, Rezaei expressed pessimism about the potential outcome of the talks, citing “the previous record and conduct of the United States.” He added that the forthcoming round would not include any discussion on halting or abandoning uranium enrichment, and that the removal of Iran’s nuclear stockpiles from the country is not open for negotiation. The United States, he said, had previously agreed to these principles during earlier rounds of talks.
The new meeting with Washington followed the February 6 indirect talks in Muscat, which both sides described as a constructive start despite remaining differences. Tehran maintains that negotiations should focus solely on the nuclear program and rejects any negotiations on its missile capabilities, while Washington is pressing for broader concessions, including halting enrichment and ending support for regional allies such as Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Ansarallah, and armed groups in Iraq, proposals Iranian officials have repeatedly rejected.
Read more: US-Iran Muscat talks: A diplomatic opening shadowed by red lines