The United States is committed to resuming high-level talks with Iran on eliminating its nuclear program. According to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the US plans to hold direct talks between its special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran on Saturday about its nuclear program.
"We hope this will lead to peace," Rubio said at a cabinet meeting chaired by President Donald Trump. " We have made it very clear that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and I think that's what led to this meeting ."
Meanwhile, a senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has threatened that Iran could expel International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors from the country if "threats" increase ahead of nuclear talks with the US.
" The continued external threat " could " lead to preventive measures, including the expulsion of IAEA inspectors and the cessation of cooperation ," Ali Shamkhani said Thursday on the online service X.
Immediately afterwards, Washington declared that expelling the IAEA inspectors would be an "escalation" and a "miscalculation." The threat of such action is "contrary to Iran's assurances about its peaceful nuclear program," US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters.
" What happened on Saturday will determine whether we move forward. We now have a meeting that is scheduled to happen. It is a meeting to find out if Iran is serious about this process. That is the purpose of this meeting. In terms of the topics or who will be present, I cannot tell you and I will not speculate ," said Tammy Bruce, a State Department spokeswoman.
Western countries have accused Iran of working on nuclear weapons for years. Tehran denies this. In 2015, Iran signed an international agreement that provided for sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. However, during Trump's first presidency, the US unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018. (A2 Televizion)
A2 CNN Livestream
MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
