Iran’s top diplomat said the US and the Islamic republic had reached an “understanding” on principles to guide talks for a deal over Tehran’s nuclear programme following discussions between the adversaries on Tuesday.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Geneva that there had been “good progress” in the negotiations but cautioned that it did not mean there would be an agreement soon.
“We eventually reached a general understanding on some principles to guide us going forward and to help draft the text of a potential agreement,” he said.
“We hope this will happen soon, and we are ready to devote sufficient time to it. However, once we begin drafting the text, it becomes more difficult and detailed.”
Brent crude sank 2.5 per cent to $67 a barrel after the conclusion of the talks.
There was no immediate comment from US officials on the talks.
During several rounds of indirect negotiations between the Trump administration and Tehran last year, both sides expressed optimism that they were closing in on a deal.
But the diplomatic effort was derailed after Israel launched a 12-day war against the Islamic republic in June, 48 hours before a sixth round of negotiations was to take place.
The US briefly joined Israel in bombing Iran’s main nuclear sites.
The latest talks — the first since the war — came after President Donald Trump repeated his warning of “consequences” if Tehran failed to agree to a deal.
Tuesday’s negotiations, which were facilitated by Oman, followed a round of indirect talks in Muscat earlier this month and came as the US continues its military build-up in the region.
Araghchi said it was not clear when the next round would take place, adding that both sides would work on respective drafts of a potential agreement and exchange the texts.
Trump, who last week said he was deploying a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, said on Monday night that he would be “indirectly” involved in the talks.
“I think they want to make a deal. I don’t think they want the consequences of not making a deal,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
Trump has repeatedly threatened military action against Iran if no agreement is reached after Tehran’s brutal crackdown on mass anti-regime protests last month, in which thousands of people were killed.
The US has dispatched additional warships, fighter jets and air defences to the Middle East over the past month.
Iranian officials have said they want a deal, but also that they are prepared for war.
The Revolutionary Guards this week began a naval exercise in the Strait of Hormuz, a key maritime trade route through which about a third of the world’s seaborne crude passes.
State television reported on Tuesday that the guards were set to clear parts of the strait for several hours to test anti-warship cruise missiles and rehearse the potential closure of the strategic waterway.
Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the guards’ navy, said his forces were ready to shut the waterway whenever Iran’s leaders ordered them to do so.
In a speech on Tuesday, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed the US’s threats, suggesting that the Islamic republic’s armed forces were capable of delivering powerful retaliatory strikes.
“Even the world’s most powerful armies can be struck in such a way that they are unable to stand back up,” he said, drawing applause from supporters.
Diplomats have warned that there are huge challenges to securing a deal, given the deep levels of mistrust between the adversaries.
Iran, which is at its most vulnerable in decades, is determined not to be seen to be capitulating to Trump.
A critical stumbling block has been the US’s long-standing demand that Iran permanently give up its ability to enrich uranium, a process that can yield both nuclear fuel and weapons-grade material.
Tehran has rejected this, insisting it has a right to enrich as a signatory to the non-proliferation treaty, and has denied it is seeking to develop nuclear arms.
Turkey’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan, who has been involved in the mediation efforts, told the FT last week that the “Americans appear willing to tolerate Iranian enrichment within clearly set boundaries”.
Washington has also sought to include curbs on Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its support for regional militants in the talks, while Tehran insists they should only focus on the nuclear issue.
Trump’s messaging, however, has been mixed, with the president suggesting that a deal covering only Iran’s nuclear programme could be “acceptable”.
Araghchi on Monday held talks with Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is trying to get access to the three sites bombed by the US and Israel in June.
Last week, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran was willing to open its nuclear sites for “any verification” to prove it was not seeking to build nuclear weapons.
Iran has prevented the IAEA accessing the sites since they were bombed, amid western concerns about the fate of a stockpile of more than 400kg of uranium enriched to a purity close to weapons-grade levels.
Araghchi said it would “take time” for the US and Iran’s positions “to come closer” after the end of talks on Tuesday.
“It’s not a roadmap, but we now have a clearer picture of what needs to be done along the way,” he added.
Additional reporting by Mercedes Ruehl in Geneva