The negotiations between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran on the latter’s nuclear program continued for a third weekend on Saturday, moving from last week’s venue in Italy to the home country of the mediators, Oman.
Both sides have come away each time by describing the prior talks as positive, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisting to his domestic, state-controlled media that most of the conversations have been more of a getting-to-know-you process than anything approaching hard bargaining. As I wrote on Apr. 12, the Associated Press reporting hinted that “Araghchi tiptoed around the tone of the meeting”:
Araghchi, however, sought to downplay the encounter as “a brief initial conversation, greetings and polite exchanges” — likely to avoid drawing the anger of hard-liners in Iran.
Since this is the Iranians we’re talking…
