Written by Parisa Hafezi and John Irish
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According to diplomats, the demands were not determined due to the sensitivity of the matter, and he said Tehran would not return to negotiations unless Israel stopped the attack.
The negotiations included a brief discussion of a proposal to Iran in late May, they said, aiming to create a regional consortium to enrich uranium outside Iran, which Tehran has so far rejected.
U.S. and Iranian officials did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the matter.
The phone discussion this week was the most substantial direct negotiations since the two began in April. In those cases, in Oman and Italy, the two exchanged brief words while exchanging each other after indirect negotiations.
A regional diplomat close to Tehran said if Washington forces Israel to end the war, Alak had told Witkov that Tehran “can show flexibility on the nuclear issue”.
“Arakch told Iran that Vitkov was ready to re-engage nuclear negotiations, but it would not be possible if Israel continues to bomb.”
After five rounds of indirect negotiations since April, a brief encounter has not had direct contact with Arakchi and Vidokov before after discussing the decades-old nuclear dispute in Iran.
The second regional diplomat spoke with Reuters: “The (first) call was initiated by Washington, and the call also made a new offer” to overcome the deadlock on the conflict’s red line.
Uranium enrichment
U.S. President Donald Trump wants Tehran to end uranium enrichment on its soil, while Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran’s enrichment is unnegotiable.
Trump has been bringing his card close to his chest for whether he ordered U.S. troops to join Israel’s bombing campaign, which aims to destroy Iran’s nuclear program and ballistic capabilities. But Trump has a glimmer of hope that diplomacy can recover, saying Iranian officials want to come to Washington for a meeting.
He turned down President Emmanuel Macron earlier this week when French leaders said Trump told G7 leaders at a summit in Canada that the United States had proposed a ceasefire and then began wider discussions.
European officials have been coordinating with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was also at the G7 summit.
Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3 and the nuclear deal between the world’s major powers and Iran in 2015, held a ministerial appeal with Araqchi on Sunday. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei and EU officials said the three countries and the EU will meet him in Geneva on Friday.
Three diplomats said that earlier this week, Rubio and Arakchi both spoke to Europeans about possible diplomatic initiatives in separate negotiations.
A senior European diplomat said that what appeared on the G7 was Trump hoping the operation would end soon, and he wanted the Iranians to talk to him while making it clear that they had to accept his request if they wanted the war to end.
Given Israel’s strike and Trump’s remarks, diplomats say Iran has no right to hold public talks with the United States, but meetings with Europeans are attempts and early diplomatic ties, which is considered more realistic for Tehran.
(Written by John Irish and Parisa, Gareth Jones
