WANA (May 23) – Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs has just arrived in Rome, the capital of Italy, to participate in the fifth round of indirect talks with the special envoy of the U.S. President, which are being held through Omani mediation.

 

Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, has so far held four rounds (three in Muscat and one in Rome) of indirect talks with Steve Witkoff, the special envoy of U.S. President Donald Trump, mediated by Seyed Badr al-Busaidi, Oman’s Foreign Minister.

 

Early this morning (Friday), the Foreign Minister and head of Iran’s negotiating team, leading a political delegation comprised of legal, political, banking, and financial experts, left for Rome to resume the fifth round of these discussions with the U.S. President’s special envoy.

 

Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Deputy Minister for Political Affairs; Kazem Gharibabadi, Deputy for Legal and International Affairs; Esmaeil Baghaei, the Ministry’s Spokesperson; and several other diplomats and experts are among the members of the delegation accompanying the Foreign Minister.

 

Iranian Foreign Minister will hold a meeting with the Omani Foreign Minister before the negotiations. The Iran-U.S. talks are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in Rome.

 

Over the past week, American officials—including President Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and U.S. spokespersons—have claimed that the only acceptable outcome of the negotiations with Iran is the complete abandonment of uranium enrichment—a position that crosses Iran’s red line.

 

This stance, which American officials have taken, was quickly responded to by Iranian officials, who said Iran has no intention of making nuclear bombs and its nuclear program is peaceful. Araghchi has also declared that Iran’s uranium enrichment activities will persist with or without a new agreement.

 

A few hours before departing for the Italian capital to attend the fifth round of indirect talks between Iran and the United States, the Foreign Minister wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account:

 

“Set to travel to Rome for 5th round of indirect talks with the United States. Figuring out the path to a deal is not rocket science:

Zero nuclear weapons = we DO have a deal.

Zero enrichment = we do NOT have a deal.”

 

Araghchi concluded his short message to the American negotiating team, led by Steve Witkoff, the U.S. President’s Special Envoy for West Asia, by stating: “Time to decide…”