US plans nuclear talks with Iran in Oslo next week, Axios reports

WASHINGTON: The United States plans to hold talks with Iran about its nuclear program in Oslo next week, Axios reported on Thursday, citing two unidentified sources.

However, the news report mentions that no final date has so far been decided.

“The sources said a final date hasn’t been set, and neither country has publicly confirmed the meeting. But if it happens, it would mark the first direct talks since President Trump ordered an unprecedented military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities last month.”

“We have no travel announcements at this time,” a White House official told Axios.

The Iranian mission to the UN declined to comment.

ECHO OF OSLO ACCORDS?

The possible selection of Oslo for the US-Iran talks reminds us about the Oslo Accords that had set 1999 as a deadline to resolve the Palestine issue. However, things went south since then, with the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu working on snatching more land and committing a genocide in Gaza.

Read more: Hamas seeks ceasefire guarantees as scores more killed in Gaza

The first major hurdle that the Oslo process confronted was the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabinon on November 4, 1995. A Jewish extremist had assassinated him.

The 1996 elections brought Netanyahu into power, who is an outspoken critic of the Oslo Accords.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu called for the elimination of Hamas.

“There will not be a Hamas. There will not be a Hamastan. We’re not going back to that. It’s over.”

COMMITTED TO NPT

Also on Thursday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Iran remains committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its safeguards agreement.

His statement came a after Tehran enacted a law suspending cooperation with the  UN nuclear watchdog and the Trump administration is persistent in its stance that the Iran must stop nuclear enrichment.

“Our cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) will be channelled through Iran’s Supreme National Security Council for obvious safety and security reasons,” Araqchi wrote in a post on X.

IRAN AND US IN DIRECT CONTACT

Meanwhile, Axios also claimed that “Witkoff and Araghchi have been in direct contact during and since the 12-day war between Israel and Iran.”

At the same time, officials from Oman and Qatar have also been involved in mediating between the two sides.

“In the immediate aftermath of the war, the Iranians were reluctant to engage with the US, but that position has gradually softened,” Axios reported.

400 KILOGRAMMES OF ENRICHED URANIUM

On the other hand, one of the main issues on agenda would be “Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which includes 400 kilogrammes enriched to 60 per cent”.

According to the media outlet, Israeli and US officials say the material is currently “sealed off from the outside world” inside the three nuclear sites attacked during the joint strikes.

“Iran is unable to access the stockpile for now due to damage from the strikes, but it could be recovered once the rubble is cleared,” it added.