The mediators are expected to meet Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Arigachi, who remains in New York (Photo: Reuters).
Because of the crippling economic pressure it is under, on Saturday, Trump said that he had rejected Iran’s proposal, arguing that Tehran wanted a swift agreement.
An anonymous official, briefed on the negotiation efforts, told Reuters that the talks are expected to focus on an amended version of Iran’s seven-day proposal, which Trump initially rejected. It said the two sides would “examine the latest proposals and views regarding the current situation”. The mediators are expected to meet Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Arigachi, who remains in New York, while participants from the US side remain unknown. Baghaei made no comment on the talks with the mediators. Iran’s seven-day plan proposes an end to all hostilities in Iran and Lebanon, the unfreezing of billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian assets, an end to sanctions on Iranian oil and the lifting of the US blockade on Iranian ports. Tehran would then allow the Strait of Hormuz to reopen, and the two sides would also resume talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.
Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency later confirmed that Araqchi would meet the mediators in the US on Monday morning, at New York time. Later on Monday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told state media that Araqchi’s stay in New York had not been extended and that the foreign minister would return to Tehran as originally scheduled. However, he also told Axios on Sunday that he expected US negotiators to engage in further talks this week.