• Iran, US to hold further talks in Geneva on Tuesday.
• Tehran signals flexibility on nuclear programme.
• Iran says deal must deliver economic gains for both sides.
  

Iran is pursuing a nuclear agreement with the US that delivers economic benefits for both sides, an Iranian diplomat was reported as saying on Sunday, days before a second round of talks between Tehran and Washington.

Iran and the US renewed negotiations earlier this month to tackle their decades-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme and avert a new military confrontation. The US has dispatched a second aircraft carrier to the region and is preparing for the possibility of a sustained military campaign if the talks do not succeed, US officials have told Reuters.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking at a news conference in Bratislava, said President Donald Trump had made it clear that he would prefer diplomacy and a negotiated settlement, while making clear that may not happen.

“No one’s ever been able to do a successful deal with Iran but we’re going to try,” Rubio said.

Iran has threatened to strike US bases in the Middle East if it is attacked by US forces but on Sunday took a conciliatory line.

“For the sake of an agreement’s durability, it is essential that the US also benefits in areas with high and quick economic returns,” foreign ministry deputy director for economic diplomacy Hamid Ghanbari said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

“Common interests in the oil and gas fields, joint fields, mining investments, and even aircraft purchases are included in the negotiations,” Ghanbari said, arguing that the 2015 nuclear pact with world powers had not secured US economic interests.

In 2018, Trump withdrew the US from the pact that had eased sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme, and re-applied tough economic sanctions on Tehran.

On Friday, a source told Reuters that a US delegation, including envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would meet Iranian officials in Geneva on Tuesday, a meeting later confirmed to Reuters by a senior Iranian official on Sunday.

“Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be travelling, I think they are travelling right now, to have important meetings and we’ll see how that turns out,” Rubio said, without providing further details.

While talks leading to the 2015 nuclear pact were multilateral, the current negotiations are confined to Iran and the United States, with Oman acting as mediator.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi left Tehran for Geneva to take part in the indirect nuclear talks with the US and meet the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, and others, his ministry said.

Open to compromise

Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi signalled Iran’s readiness to compromise on its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief, telling the BBC on Sunday that the ball was “in America’s court to prove that they want to do a deal.”

The senior official referred to the Iranian atomic chief’s statement on Monday that the country could agree to dilute its most highly enriched uranium in exchange for the lifting of sanctions as an example of Iran’s flexibility.

However, he reiterated that Tehran would not accept zero uranium enrichment, a key sticking point in past negotiations, with Washington viewing enrichment inside Iran as a potential pathway to nuclear weapons. Iran denies seeking such weapons.

In June, the US joined Israel in a series of air strikes that targeted Iranian nuclear sites.

The US is also stepping up economic pressure on Iran. At a White House meeting earlier this week, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed that the US would work to reduce Iran’s oil exports to China, Axios reported on Saturday.

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed at a White House meeting on Wednesday that the US would work to reduce Iran’s oil exports to China, Axios reported, citing two US officials briefed on the issue.

“We agreed that we will go full force with maximum pressure against Iran, for example, regarding Iranian oil sales to China,” Axios reported on Saturday, quoting a senior US official.

Asked about the report, China’s foreign ministry said on Sunday that “normal cooperation between countries conducted within the framework of international law is reasonable and legitimate, and should be respected and protected.”

China accounts for more than 80% of Iran’s oil exports. Any reduction in that trade would mean lower oil revenue for Iran.

US and Iranian diplomats held talks on Iran’s nuclear programme through Omani mediators last week in an effort to revive diplomacy, after the US president positioned a naval flotilla in the region as the American military prepares for the possibility of sustained, weeks-long operations against Iran.

• Ukraine wants 2027 membership date as part of peace deal.
• Kallas says a lot of work still needed.
• Latvian president plays down peace deal prospects.

MUNICH: European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Sunday she felt that EU governments were not ready to give Ukraine a date for membership despite a demand to do so from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Zelenskiy repeated on Saturday that he needed a date as part of security guarantees for a final peace package with Russia.

“My feeling is that the member states are not ready to give a concrete date,” Kallas told a panel at the Munich Security Conference. “There’s a lot of work to be done.”

Ukraine pushing for 2027 membership

Ukrainian EU membership in 2027 was pencilled into a 20-point peace plan discussed between the United States, Ukraine and the European Union, diplomats have said, as a measure to ensure Ukraine’s economic prosperity after the war ends.

But many EU governments believe that date, or any other fixed date, is completely unrealistic because EU accession is a merit-based process, moving forward only when there is progress in adjusting a country’s laws to EU standards.

Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics echoed the Kallas comments but held out little hope of an imminent peace deal.

“Yes, we understand that we need Ukraine in the European Union and, yes, when talking with many heads of state I get the feeling there is no readiness to accept a date,” he said.

Rinkevics said that the EU had always been creative when there was a real need and could probably find a formula that suited the bloc, but it would also need to assuage Western Balkan states and Moldova, which have long been vying for membership.

“Like it or not it is very much tied to the peace deal. Will there be a peace deal or not? I don’t see that Russia is going to move, and if Russia is not moving, then we are not going to have a deal,” he said.

Ukraine applied to join the EU days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, seeking to anchor itself politically and economically to the West.

It has been pushing to make progress on its bid, despite the challenges of the war and opposition from EU member Hungary, which is blocking the start of detailed membership talks.