US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio says that there is the possibility that “even today, tomorrow or in a few days” he could announce “good news”. The Iranian Foreign Ministry also stated that a draft agreement could be “finally close.”
Senior officials from the United States and Iran said this Saturday that they could be close to a breakthrough in negotiations to reach a draft agreement that puts end to war in the Middle East.
Iran stated that there are still disagreements between the parties and that the dispute over its nuclear program will not be part of the initial talks.
But the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubioexpressed optimism, at a time when Pakistan’s army chief, a key mediator between the United States and Iran, left Tehran after two days of talks with senior Iranian leaders.
“There is a possibility that, even today, tomorrow or in a few dayswe may have something to say,” Rubio told reporters on Saturday, during a visit to New Delhi, adding that he hoped to be able to announce “good news” soon.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry also stated that a draft agreement may finally be close.
“Our intention was, first and foremost, draft a memorandum of understandinga kind of framework agreement made up of 14 clauses”, said the ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baqaeion state television.
Baqaei noted what he described as “a tendency towards approximation”, but stated that this “does not necessarily mean that we and the United States will agree on the important issues”.
Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibafhad previously warned that Washington would face a harsh response if hostilities resumed, after reports in the North American media raised the possibility of new attacks and Iranian officials accused the North American side of making “excessive demands”.
“Our armed forces have rebuilt themselves during the ceasefire period such that if Trump commits another act of folly and restarts the war, it will certainly be more crushing and bitter for the United States than on the first day of the war,” Ghalibaf wrote on social media.
Ghalibaf made the warning after meeting in Tehran with Pakistan’s army chief, Marshal Asim Munira leading figure in international efforts to negotiate an end to the war, which began after the United States and Israel attacked the Islamic Republic on February 28.
Weeks of negotiations, including historic face-to-face talks hosted by Islamabad, have not yet produced a permanent solution nor have they re-established full access to the Strait of Hormuz, strangling vast amounts of the world’s oil supply.
The impasse has left ordinary Iranians in a situation of uncertainty. “The state of ‘neither war nor peace‘ is much filthier than the war itself,” Shahrzad, a 39-year-old resident of Tehran, told AFP.
“You can’t even plan something so simple how to sign up to a gym, the more bigger things… I’m about to start a new job and I’m afraid that war will break out again — that I’ll end up leaving work like before, fleeing to another city out of fear”, he lamented.
