The State Department on Thursday outlined steps Iran should take to reduce tension with the US, but pushed back against news reports that Washington is edging closer to a deal with Tehran to free prisoners and resume talks on a nuclear agreement.
Iran on Monday confirmed that it had held indirect talks with US officials in Oman to discuss a potential prisoner swap.
The development represents an apparent breakthrough after months without meaningful dialogue between the two countries, even as Tehran has moved to build a stockpile of increasingly refined uranium that could ultimately be used in a nuclear bomb.
The New York Times on Thursday cited Israeli, Iranian and US officials in outlining a prospective informal pact that would lead to Iran agreeing not to enrich uranium beyond 60 per cent purity – less than the 90 per cent required to make a bomb.
In return for sanctions relief, Iran would also stop attacks on US contractors in Syria and Iraq, as well as reduce support to the Russian military, the newspaper reported.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said such reports were “not true”, and both Iran and the US have sought to refute earlier reports. But he outlined a series of measures Iran should enact to improve relations.
“We want Iran to take steps to de-escalate tensions, which, of course, includes steps to curb its nuclear programme,” Mr Miller told reporters.
He described other steps Tehran should take, including ending support for proxy groups that attack US contractors and partners, as well as stopping support for Russia's war in Ukraine and releasing prisoners.
Currently, three Iranian-American dual citizens are being held in Iran's prisons: Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz.
“Iran should release Americans who it continues to wrongfully detain,” Mr Miller said. “The wrongful detention of US nationals for political leverage is unacceptable and we will continue to work to bring every American who was wrongfully detained home.”
He said the US would continue to use “diplomatic engagements” to achieve such goals.
House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul sent a letter to US President Joe Biden saying he was concerned by reports of a possible new nuclear deal with Iran.
“Rather than using United States diplomatic leverage and military deterrence to dissuade Iran from engaging in these malign activities, this administration is rewarding Iran’s bad behaviour in exchange for a false promise of de-escalation,” wrote the Republican chairman.
“US law requires that any agreement, arrangement or understanding with Iran needs to be submitted to Congress”.
In 2018, Donald Trump, who was president at the time, unilaterally exited a comprehensive nuclear deal that the US and other countries had forged with Iran in 2015.
Under the deal, Tehran agreed to inspections of its nuclear facilities and to curtail its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief and other measures. Since the US pulled out, Iran has increased its uranium-enriching activity.
Tehran is now seeking sanctions relief in any agreement with the US, but that could be a difficult sell in Washington, said Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group.
He said a prospective new agreement does not necessarily mean it would be possible to fully roll back Iran’s nuclear programme.
“Because all of that requires substantive sanctions relief, that, I think is unsellable politically in Washington at this time,” he told The National.
Any new agreement with Iran would likely face stiff opposition from sceptical members of Congress.
Senior Democratic aides in the Senate last week told The National that Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Menendez plans to introduce a companion to a House bill on Iranian ballistic missiles and would be “looking at ways to reintroduce the Stop Iranian Drones Act”, which aims to expand existing provisions requiring sanctions against people or entities that provide certain types of weapons to Tehran.
Mr McCaul said recent US intelligence claiming that Iran is helping Russia build a drone factory highlighted the importance of his bipartisan Fight Crime Act, which would impose sanctions on anyone “supplying, transferring or developing Iranian missiles and drones”.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, a Washington think tank with hawkish views on Iran, said the Biden administration was unrealistic if it thought any deal would change Tehran's behaviour.
A deal would be a “Faustian bargain”, he said, in which Iran would be rewarded for taking US prisoners.
“You hear this called a gentleman's understanding, but there is no such thing when you're dealing with [Iran],” he said.
The Biden administration wants only to “make a claim about how they changed Iran's nuclear direction come the 2024 election”, he said.
Jihan Abdalla and Ellie Sennett contributed to this report
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
BMW M5 specs
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Power: 727hp
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PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Watford v Leicester City (3.30pm)
Brighton v Arsenal (6pm)
West Ham v Wolves (8.30pm)
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (10.45pm)
Sunday
Newcastle United v Sheffield United (5pm)
Aston Villa v Chelsea (7.15pm)
Everton v Liverpool (10pm)
Monday
Manchester City v Burnley (11pm)
NYBL PROFILE
Company name: Nybl
Date started: November 2018
Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence
Initial investment: $500,000
Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)
Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
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At a glance - Zayed Sustainability Prize 2020
Launched: 2008
Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools
Prize: Dh2.2 million (Dh360,000 for global high schools category)
Winners’ announcement: Monday, January 13
Impact in numbers
335 million people positively impacted by projects
430,000 jobs created
10 million people given access to clean and affordable drinking water
50 million homes powered by renewable energy
6.5 billion litres of water saved
26 million school children given solar lighting
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
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HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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The years Ramadan fell in May
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CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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A Bad Moms Christmas
Dir: John Lucas and Scott Moore
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Susan Sarandon, Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines
Two stars
The five pillars of Islam
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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