Uranium enrichment was pointed out as the great obstacle in the talks between the United States and Iran scheduled for Friday, February 6 in Oman. But now the main sticking point is Iran's ballistic missile program, which the United States wants to include in the talks, something Tehran rejects. What's at stake?
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Iran and the United States will hold talks on Friday, February 6 in Oman. Tehran is pushing to focus exclusively on its nuclear program, but Washington's demands go further.
The two rivals held several rounds of Oman-brokered nuclear talks in 2025, but the war between Iran and Israel, in which the United States carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, derailed diplomacy days before a meeting was scheduled to take place.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to renew military action against Iran following its deadly crackdown on massive anti-government protests, but believes Tehran is open to a deal.
The United States has said the talks should cover Tehran's missile program and its support for militant groups in the region.
Also read EE. US and Iran confirm negotiations on Friday in Oman, but differences persist over agenda
Below are some of the thorny issues on the table:
Uranium enrichment
The main dispute between Iran and the United States concerns uranium enrichment.
Western countries and Israel, considered the only Middle Eastern country with nuclear weapons, claim Iran is trying to acquire a bomb, which the Islamic Republic denies.
During the war between Iran and Israel last June, the United States bombed three nuclear sites in Iran (Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan), and Trump later claimed that the attacks "destroyed" the nuclear program, although the extent of the damage remains unknown.
Experts say that uranium enriched above 20% can have potential military applications, but that the enrichment must reach 90% to make a bomb.
Before the war, Iran was enriching uranium to 60%, according to the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, far exceeding the 3.67 percent limit allowed by a now-defunct nuclear deal Iran reached with world powers in 2015.
The United States withdrew from that deal in 2018 and Iran subsequently abandoned its commitments under the deal in retaliation.
Trump has repeatedly called for a complete end to enrichment, a much stricter condition than the 2015 deal.
Iran, which claims to have the right to civil nuclear energy, considers this demand a "red line" and contrary to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to which it and 190 other countries are signatories.
Read alsoUnited States and Iran, far from common ground for negotiations in Oman
Where are the Iranian reserves?
The location of Iran's stockpile of more than 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium is unclear following US bombings last year. IAEA inspectors last saw these stockpiles on June 10.
"The materials are under the rubble (of the bombed nuclear sites) and we have not made any attempt to extract them... because it is dangerous," Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, told Lebanese media this week.
"We are discussing this issue with the IAEA to find a solution while guaranteeing safety," he added.
Iran suspended all cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog in late September, justifying its decision as retaliation after UN sanctions over its nuclear program were reinstated.
Several countries, including Russia, have offered to host Tehran's stockpile of enriched uranium as a safeguard measure, but Iran has refused.
"There is no reason to move materials abroad when we can eliminate sources of concern" about their end use, Shamkhani insisted.
"We have no plan to militarize our nuclear program" and "therefore we can dilute the material from 60 to 20 percent," he added.
"But in return you have to pay something," Shamkhani said, alluding to Iran's demand that sanctions be lifted.
Also read EE. The US and Iran resume contact without dispelling the specter of military intervention
Nuclear and nothing more
Tehran insists that talks be strictly limited to the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions, and considers this demand non-negotiable.
But Washington and its ally Israel are pushing to include other complaints against the Islamic republic.
In 2018, the United States' withdrawal from the previous nuclear deal was motivated in part by the lack of restrictions in the agreement on Iran's ballistic missile program, perceived as a threat to Israel.
According to media reports, Israel is now pushing to put this issue on the negotiating table, along with Iran's policy of funding militant groups across the Middle East, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen.
Read also: What are Iran's ballistic capabilities?: Tehran's "red line" ahead of the meeting with the US.
With AFP
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