Qatar on Tuesday said it was discussing ideas with Oman to try to bridge the remaining gaps in talks between Washington and Tehran as Iran's supreme leader cast doubts on whether negotiations would reach a conclusion.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said he had suggested a trilateral format of engagement with Iran and Oman – the mediator in the recent talks with the US – in order to “bridge the gaps between the two parties”.
"The last thing we want is a nuclear race or round of escalation next to our countries," Sheikh Mohammed said from the Qatar Economic Forum.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday said he did not believe the talks with the US were likely to reach a conclusion, as a diplomatic stand-off continues over Tehran's uranium enrichment.
“We don't think it will reach a conclusion. We don't know what will happen,” he said during a speech. Denying Iran the right to enrich uranium was a “big mistake”, he added.
Oman has mediated four rounds of talks between the US and Iran since April 12, with the next one yet to be determined. The Qatari Prime Minister said there was a “positive momentum” based on his conversation with US President Donald Trump who went on a Gulf tour last week that took him to Doha.
“He also wants to avoid any conflict or escalation and this shows leadership and political will. On Iran, we've seen the same positivity,” he said.
Last week, Mr Trump said a new nuclear deal was close and that Iran had been provided with a proposal. He told Tehran it needed to “move quickly or something bad is going to happen”. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Tehran was reviewing the proposal.
Fellow Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said talks would fail if the US continued to insist that Tehran refrains from enrichment. Two senior Iranian officials told The National in Tehran that talks were stumbling over the issue of uranium enrichment.
Iran has “not accepted” an invitation from Oman for a fifth round of talks in Rome this Friday, one official said, after US negotiator Steve Witkoff said enrichment would not be allowed under any deal.
Enrichment is “one very, very clear red line” for the Trump administration, Mr Witkoff said on Monday.
The officials described negotiations, which are solely focused on nuclear activity and do not extend to other issues such as Iran's ballistic missile capacities or regional policies, as “respectful” so far.
However, there was a “serious problem” with the US insistence on zero enrichment, one of the officials said, and Iranians have been frustrated by what they see as ambitious and inconsistent positions from Washington.
Tehran has repeatedly stated its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful and civilian purposes.
