The United States and Iran are showing flexibility on a nuclear deal, with Washington appearing "willing" to tolerate some nuclear enrichment, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told the Financial Times in an interview published on Thursday.
"It is positive that the Americans appear willing to tolerate Iranian enrichment within clearly set boundaries," Fidan, who has been involved in talks with both Washington and Tehran, told the FT.
"The Iranians now recognise that they need to reach a deal with the Americans, and the Americans understand that the Iranians have certain limits. It’s pointless to try to force them.”
Washington has until now demanded Iran relinquish its stockpile of uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent fissile purity, a small step away from the 90 per cent that is considered weapons grade.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said Iran would continue to demand the lifting of financial sanctions and insist on its nuclear rights including enrichment.
Fidan told the FT he believed Tehran "genuinely wants to reach a real agreement” and would accept restrictions on enrichment levels and a strict inspection regime, as it did in the 2015 agreement with the US and others. US and Iranian diplomats held talks in Oman last week in an effort to revive diplomacy.
The Turkish foreign minister, however, cautioned that broadening the Iran-US talks to ballistic missiles would bring "nothing but another war."
The US State Department and the White House did not respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump told Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House that talks with Iran must continue, rebuffing the Israeli prime minister's push for a tougher stance against Tehran.
"There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a deal can be consummated," Trump said on social media after their three-hour meeting. "If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference. If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be," said Trump. — Agencies
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