It comes after US special envoy Steve Witkoff warned on Friday that if the next set of talks in Oman on Sunday were not productive, “then they won’t continue and we’ll have to take a different route.”
“The United States will ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon, but also wishes for lasting peace in the Middle East, a new relationship with Iran, and for the Iranian people to reach their nations full potential,” said the US official.
Earlier Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi – who is expected to meet Witkoff on Sunday – said Tehran had received “contradictory messages” from the US as “different individuals express different views.”
The Iranian source said the American side “is basically not ready for meaningful technical and political talks,” adding that the United States gives “short and general answers” to questions, ignores “main proposals,” and “constantly changes its position” throughout the negotiations.
According to the source, this situation has led Iran to conclude that the negotiations “likely will not yield the desired outcome in sanctions relief and economic benefit.”
As a result, Tehran is “preparing for the next stage, with political, economic, and other sectors having prepared the necessary scenarios over the past month.”
The comments come after Witkoff, in an interview with Breitbart posted Friday, described the US’ expectations for the talks in some of the greatest detail to date.
“An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That’s our red line. No enrichment. That means dismantlement, it means no weaponization, and it means that Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan – those are their three enrichment facilities – have to be dismantled,” Witkoff said.
Iran has said it is nonnegotiable that it be allowed to enrich uranium.
Iran has long insisted it does not want a nuclear weapon and that its program is for energy purposes.
In his interview with Breitbart, the special envoy said the talks are focused exclusively on the nuclear issue, a change from the attempts of the first Trump administration to deal widely with Iran’s aggressive actions in the region.