Talks from the US and Iran have made “significant progress” on a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi told CBS News on Friday, as President Trump considers strikes on Iran.
Albusaidi – who has been a mediator in several US-Iran talks over the past month – told “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan that “a peace deal is doable.”
He said Iran had agreed that it would “never, ever have … nuclear material that would create a bomb,” which he called “a great achievement.” The country’s existing stockpiles of enriched uranium will be “compiled to a very low level” and “turned into fuel, and that fuel will be irreversible,” according to Albusaidi.
And Iran is willing to give inspectors from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency “full access” to its nuclear sites to verify the terms of the deal, Albusaidi said.
“There will be egg, egg collection, and complete verification,” he said. Albusaidi said that if there is a fair and tolerant agreement, he is “sure” that even the American inspectors will be able to reach at some point in the process.
Asked if he believed enough progress had been made to avoid US strikes on Iran, Albusaidi replied: “I hope so.” But he said “we need more time” to release specific details. Technical talks are scheduled for Monday in Vienna, and Albusaidi said he hopes to meet with US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner a few days after that.
Mr. Trump spoke otherwise on Friday, he told reporters He is “unhappy” with the progress of the negotiations and has not yet decided whether to authorize strikes.
“I am not happy that they are not willing to give us what we should have,” he said. “I’m not happy about that, we’ll see what happens. We’ll talk later.”
Mr. Trump said on Friday afternoon that he wants Iran to completely stop enriching uranium.
“They want to enrich a little. You don’t need to enrich if you have a lot of fat,” said the president during an event in Texas. “I say, there is no enrichment.”
Iran has long decided to stop its uranium enrichment program, and the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. I tell “Face the Nation” last week that the country “has every right to enjoy peaceful nuclear energy, including enrichment.”
Iran previously agreed to limit uranium enrichment under a 2015 deal struck with the US and several other countries. Mr. Trump withdrew from that Obama deal during his first term, saying it was not strong enough.
In recent years, Iran has enriched uranium to 60% purity, which is a short step from the level required for nuclear weapons. US intelligence agencies assessed last spring that Iran had not yet renewed its nuclear weapons program that was suspended in 2003, and the country has long denied any interest in developing a nuclear weapon.
Albusaidi said on Friday that Iran is not currently enriching uranium, even though a secret report released by the IAEA this week found that Iran is doing unexplained work at nuclear sites bombed by the US last June, CBS News confirmed.
Mr. Trump has done it he told reporters a few weeks ago that he is considering another strike on Iran if a nuclear deal is not reached, although he has said his preference is for negotiations.
Negotiators from Iran and the US held three rounds of informal talks last month, including the first round of talks in Oman and two rounds in Geneva, Switzerland.
The talks focused on Iran’s nuclear program, not missiles or its practice of financing Middle East donors – two areas Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said must be part of any deal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Iran’s reluctance to discuss the missiles a “big, big problem” earlier this week.
Albusaidi told CBS News that “the number one priority is to resolve the nuclear issue,” but added, “I believe Iran is open to discussing everything.”
He said he believed both the US and Iranian sides were “very serious about reaching an agreement.” He suggested an agreement could be reached soon, although both sides would need three months to implement the terms of any agreement.
“If I were President Trump, my only advice would be to give those negotiators enough space and enough space to close these remaining areas that we have to discuss and agree on,” Albusaidi said.
