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WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday told lawmakers that Iran had agreed to begin limited negotiations over its nuclear programme, marking what he described as a tentative but meaningful shift in Tehran’s posture as the United States-led conflict continues to destabilise the Middle East.
Rubio said that Iran had also indicated interest in discussing parts of its nuclear programme that it had previously refused to engage on, but he cautioned that this did not ensure the negotiations would produce a deal to end the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.
“They have agreed to negotiate aspects of their nuclear programme that just a month ago, just a year ago, they were refusing to even mention,” Rubio said.
But he added that it’s “not a guarantee that ultimately it will lead to a deal that’s acceptable” by Congress. He said these negotiations had been made difficult by the instability of Iran’s leadership.
