WITH the end of the first round of negotiations in Oman between Iran and the US, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and later President Donald Trump described the talks as good.

But the situation in the Gulf remains poised on a knife-edge. A US carrier strike group led by USS Abraham Lincoln is within 1,000 kilometres of Iran and at least one more is reportedly ready to be deployed to the region from the Pacific. Many US aerial assets have also been moved to American bases in the region.

Tehran has reacted by saying that such a military build-up does not contribute to creating a conducive atmosphere for talks; the commanders of the Iranian military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps have made clear that Iran’s finger remains on the trigger. The IRGC commander also assured Iran’s Gulf Arab neighbours that in case of a US-Israeli attack on Iran, “our brothers” won’t be targeted but US bases on their soil will be legitimate targets.

Earlier this week, Al Jazeera published what it claimed was the draft of the deal to be discussed between the US and Iran. Al Jazeera said the draft was presented to both sides by mediators from Qatar, Turkiye and Egypt. Under that proposal, “Iran would commit to zero uranium enrichment for three years, after which it would limit enrichment to below 1.5 per cent … Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium — including about 440 kilograms enriched to 60pc — would be transferred to a third country under the framework”.

The Al........

© Dawn