Turkey plans to host high-level talks between the United States and Iran on Friday aimed at reducing tensions between the two countries that have risen since protests in the Islamic Republic and threats from President Donald Trump.
The United States has sent naval assets to the region, raising fears of another war following last year’s US-Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. (via REUTERS/Files)The summit in Istanbul will be attended by US Ambassador Steve Wittkoff, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi, Bloomberg reported. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hopes some regional powers will join.
The talks will mark the first public meeting between Iranian and US officials since recent escalation of tensions Trump has threatened Tehran with military action if it fails to reach an agreement to end its nuclear program.
The United States has sent naval assets to the region, raising fears of another war following last year’s US-Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
What we know about the Istanbul talks between the US and IranThis information was informed by quoting a regional official Reuters A group of regional powers was also invited, saying that the priority of talks between Iran and the US in Istanbul this week was to avoid any conflict and reduce tensions between the two sides.
The Foreign Ministerial level talks included a number of invited countries Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Oman and United Arab Emirates.
The official said the format of the meeting was unclear, but the “main meeting” would take place on Friday and it was important to start a dialogue between the parties to avoid further tensions.
The New York Times previously reported that a meeting between US and Iranian officials will be held in Istanbul later this week with the participation of several Middle Eastern countries.
Iranian sources told Reuters last week that Trump demanded three conditions for resuming talks: Iran’s zero enrichment of uranium, curbs on Tehran’s ballistic missile program and an end to support for regional proxies.
Iran has long rejected all three claims as unacceptable violations of its sovereignty, but two Iranian officials told Reuters that its clerical rulers saw the ballistic missile program, rather than uranium enrichment, as a major obstacle.
Witkoff is expected to arrive in Israel on Tuesday for talks with the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top security officials.
