JAKARTA - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Special Envoy to US President Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff are scheduled to meet in Istanbul, Turkey on Friday this week, to discuss a possible nuclear deal and other issues, a US official said on Monday.
"The president has asked them to make a deal. This meeting is to listen to what they want to say," the official said, launching Al Arabiya and Reuters (3/2).
Meanwhile, a senior Iranian official also told Reuters that Foreign Minister Araghchi and Witkoff would meet in Istanbul on Friday.
Several regional countries are expected to attend the US-Iran meeting on Friday, Reuters reported, citing a senior regional diplomat.
The meeting, which is planned for Friday, was first reported by Axios.
Tensions have been rising amid increased military strength by the US Navy near Iran, following a crackdown on anti-government demonstrations last month, the deadliest domestic unrest in Iran since the 1979 revolution.
President Trump, who did not follow through on his threat to intervene during the crackdown, has since demanded Tehran make nuclear concessions and send a fleet to its shores.
He said last week Iran was "serious in talks," while Tehran's top security official, Ali Larijani, said arrangements for negotiations were underway.
Iranian sources told Reuters last week, President Trump demanded three preconditions for the resumption of talks: zero uranium enrichment in Iran, restrictions on Tehran's ballistic missile program, and the cessation of its support for regional proxies.
Iran has long rejected the three demands as unacceptable violations of sovereignty, but two Iranian officials told Reuters that their clerical rulers see its ballistic missile program, not uranium enrichment, as a bigger obstacle.
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