After military strikes, US planning to hold nuclear talks with Iran in Oslo next week: Report

1. After military strikes, US planning to hold nuclear talks with Iran in Oslo next week: Report

The United States is reportedly planning to hold nuclear talks with Iran in Oslo next week, according to a report by Axios.

The meeting, reportedly between Witkoff and Araghchi, would mark the first direct talks between both countries after US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites.(Reuters/ Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The proposed meeting would bring together White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi for discussions on reviving stalled nuclear negotiations, sources familiar with the matter told the outlet.

If confirmed, it would mark the first direct engagement between Washington and Tehran since the US struck three nuclear sites in Iran last month. However, neither country has officially confirmed the meeting, and a final date has yet to be set, Axios added.

This comes hours after the US Department of Defence said that Iran's nuclear programme had been set back by at least a year, as per news ANI. 

Sean Parnell, chief spokesperson of the Pentagon, said that the intelligence assessments in the department estimated that Iran's nuclear programme has faced withdrawal by “one to two years”.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday reportedly ordered suspension of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 

This came after the country's parliament passed a law to this effect, which was given the go-ahead by a constitutional watchdog, the Associated Press reported.

Araghchi took to X to slam the United Nations' nuclear watchdog. "After years of good cooperation with the IAEA—resulting in a resolution which shut down malign claims of a 'possible military dimension' (PMD) to Iran's peaceful nuclear program—my country is once again accused of 'non-compliance',”Araghchi said.

The Iranian foreign minister said that instead of engaging with the country at the IAEA, “the E3 is opting for malign action against Iran”.

The US claims that Iran's uranium stockpile – 400 kilograms of which is reportedly 60% enriched –  is inaccessible and “sealed off from the outside world” due to the damage after American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

However, nuclear proliferation experts believe that these strikes could make Iran take a more dangerous path to obtaining nuclear arms, as per an ABC News report. Apart from IAEA, Iran is also mulling withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT), which says that countries other than those certified as nuclear powers cannot develop nuclear weapons.