Iran’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that Iran and the United States have agreed in talks in Switzerland on a set of “guiding principles” that could pave the way for a possible agreement on Tehran’s nuclear programme.
“We’ve been able to reach a general agreement on some guiding principles, on the basis of which we will move forward and begin working on the text of a potential agreement,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said after the indirect talks concluded in Geneva. “Different ideas have been presented, these ideas have been seriously discussed,” he added, according to Iranian media.
Araghchi described the second round of talks as “more constructive” than the previous session held in Muscat on Feb. 6, but cautioned that this does not mean a final deal can be reached quickly.
He said both sides would now work on draft texts based on those principles before determining a date for a third round of negotiations.
Speaking in Geneva after the talks, Araghchi also welcomed what he called a “new window of opportunity” for a diplomatic settlement to tensions with the United States, underscoring hopes that the negotiations could ultimately produce a durable solution that “serves the interests of the parties concerned and the region as a whole.”
Negotiations are being conducted indirectly under the mediation of Oman, with Iranian and U.S. delegations exchanging positions through intermediaries.
Iran has repeatedly maintained that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes and insists on its right to enrich uranium for civilian uses.
