Iran on Monday said conclusions had been reached on several issues in talks with the United States over a potential memorandum of understanding (MoU), but stressed that no agreement was imminent amid continuing differences between the two sides.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was currently focused on ending the conflict and not discussing nuclear issues, while also warning that shifting positions by US officials were complicating negotiations.
A senior Iranian diplomat, Hossein Nooshabadi, later told ISNA news agency that Iran would discuss its nuclear programme and highly enriched uranium with Washington if the US fulfilled its commitments under the proposed MoU.
According to Nooshabadi, those issues would be negotiated over 60 days in exchange for sanctions relief and the release of Iranian foreign assets.
The remarks came as both Tehran and Washington played down expectations of a quick breakthrough in the three-month-old conflict.
Speaking in New Delhi, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would continue to pursue diplomacy before considering “alternatives”.
“There was a "pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the strait, get the strait open, enter into a very real, significant, time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matter, and hopefully we can pull it off," Rubio said.
US President Donald Trump had said on Sunday that he instructed US representatives not to rush into any agreement with Iran.
A day later, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the US blockade on Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz would “remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed”.
He added, “Both sides must take their time and get it right.”
Baghaei also said the proposed MoU did not contain specific details regarding the management of the Strait of Hormuz, which he said belonged to the coastal countries.
Oil prices fell 5 per cent to two-week lows on Monday amid optimism that the US and Iran could move closer to a peace deal.
