Washington, DC
\nPresident Donald Trump voiced frustration with Iran\u2019s stance in nuclear negotiations as US staff left Israel due to safety concerns \u2014 but mediator Oman promoted what it said was a \u201cbreakthrough\u201d to avert war.
\nTrump has ordered the biggest military build-up in decades in the Middle East, with the world\u2019s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, approaching the coast of Israel, as he demands Iran agree to sweeping concessions on concerns starting with its nuclear program.
\nA day after the United States and Iran held talks in Geneva, Trump said that Iran was \u201cnot willing to give us what we have to have.\u201d
\n\u201cWe\u2019re not exactly happy with the way they negotiated. They cannot have nuclear weapons, and we\u2019re not thrilled with the way they\u2019re negotiating,\u201d Trump told reporters.
\nHe later said he wants Iran to have \u201cno enrichment\u201d at all of uranium that could go toward a nuclear bomb, which Iran denies it is pursuing.
\nBut Oman, which mediated the Geneva talks, offered a much rosier picture and said that Iran had agreed to zero stockpiling of any uranium, making moot the question of the level of enrichment.
\nIran also agreed to degrade current stockpiles into fuel, said Oman\u2019s foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, who was in Washington meeting US Vice President JD Vance.
\n\u201cIf the ultimate objective is to ensure forever that Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb, I think we have cracked that problem through these negotiations by agreeing a very important breakthrough that has never been achieved any time before,\u201d Albusaidi told the CBS News program \u201cFace the Nation.\u201d
\n\u201cIf we can capture that and build on it, I think a deal is within our reach,\u201d he said, estimating that three months would be needed to finalise an accord.
\nAs Washington mobilises forces, Trump said \u201cnobody knows\u201d if a US attack would bring down the Iranian government.
\nIran agreed to restrictions on low-level enrichment in a 2015 deal that Trump ripped up during his first term in office.
\nTrump in June had said that Iran\u2019s key nuclear sites had been \u201cobliterated\u201d after the United States joined a major Israeli bombing campaign on the country.<\/p>\n
Rubio heads to Israel
\nMeanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Israel for talks on Iran on Monday, the State Department said.
\nIn a rare break from decades of precedent, the top US diplomat will travel without reporters on his plane.
\nRubio\u2019s trip comes as the US embassy announced it was allowing non-emergency government personnel and family members to leave Israel \u201cdue to safety risks.\u201d Germany, in a new advisory, said it \u201curgently\u201d discouraged travel to Israel.
\nBritain and Canada said they were moving some diplomatic staff out of Tel Aviv, Israel\u2019s economic hub, where most countries maintain embassies, as a precaution.
\nChina and Canada both called on their citizens to evacuate Iran, while Britain pulled its embassy staff in Tehran.<\/p>\n
Issues beyond nuclear
\nTrump, in his State of the Union address Tuesday, alleged Iran was developing missiles that could strike the United States.
\nRubio later said it would be a \u201cvery big problem\u201d for Iran if it does not discuss its missiles. Iran has insisted that the ongoing talks focus on the nuclear issue.
\nIncreasing pressure, Rubio on Friday designated Iran a state sponsor of wrongful detentions, a new blacklist, over the jailings of US citizens.
\nIranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that \u201csuccess in this path requires seriousness and realism from the other side and avoidance of any miscalculation and excessive demands.\u201d
\nThe UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, confirmed that it would hold technical discussions with Iran on Monday.
\nThe agency called on Iran to cooperate with it \u201cconstructively,\u201d according to a confidential report seen by AFP.
\nIn their capital, Tehran, ordinary Iranians expressed distrust of the United States and hoped negotiations would lead to economic relief for their sanctions-hit nation.
\n\u201cWhatever the outcome of the negotiations\u2026it should lead to some improvement in people\u2019s economic situation. Not just a little \u2014 it is our right,\u201d Ali Bagheri, 34, told AFP.
\nHamid Beiranvand, 42, said Iran should \u201cnot give any concessions\u201d as Washington \u201cbreaks promises\u201d \u2014 but that \u201ceveryone prefers that a war doesn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington, DC President Donald Trump voiced frustration with Iran\u2019s stance in nuclear negotiations as US staff left Israel due to safety concerns \u2014 but mediator Oman promoted what it said was a \u201cbreakthrough\u201d to avert war. Trump has ordered the biggest military build-up in decades in the Middle East, with the world\u2019s largest aircraft carrier, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":534125,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-534107","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n