Tehran Rules Out Direct Negotiations with Washington

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi meets his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last month. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi meets his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last month. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
TT

Tehran Rules Out Direct Negotiations with Washington

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi meets his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last month. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi meets his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last month. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)

Iran has ruled out direct negotiations with the United States, but has reiterated its satisfaction with the Omani initiative which aims to break the diplomatic impasse surrounding the revival of the 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Speaking at a weekly press conference on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani considered Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq’s recent proposal as an initiative to bridge some of the gap between the parties.

“The initiatives and plans proposed by some friendly countries, including the Sultan of Oman are neither a new agreement nor a new plan, but a practical initiative to bring the points of view of the JCPOA parties closer to each other and return all parties to this nuclear deal reached in 2015,” said Kanaani.

“The diplomatic channel and the exchange of messages remain open, and this process is ongoing,” affirmed Kanaani.

However, the spokesperson went on to say: “We will not engage in direct negotiations with the US, and there is no plan for direct negotiations.”

Last year, nuclear negotiations stumbled in the final stages as Tehran held firm on its conditions, including the closure of an international investigation into nuclear activities at two secret sites where traces of uranium of human origin were found by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Western diplomats say that Iran rejected at least two drafts to reach an agreement during the past year.

The IAEA estimates that Iran has enough enriched uranium at 60% to develop three nuclear bombs. Additionally, it possesses larger quantities of 20% enriched uranium.

In parallel with the revival talks of the nuclear agreement in April 2021, Tehran began enriching uranium to 60%.



Jd Vance Goes to the Vatican Following Remarkable Papal Rebuke over Trump Crackdown on Migrants

US Vice President JD Vance, and his wife Usha Vance, left, with their daughter Mirabel, attend a Good Friday service led by Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, right, inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
US Vice President JD Vance, and his wife Usha Vance, left, with their daughter Mirabel, attend a Good Friday service led by Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, right, inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
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Jd Vance Goes to the Vatican Following Remarkable Papal Rebuke over Trump Crackdown on Migrants

US Vice President JD Vance, and his wife Usha Vance, left, with their daughter Mirabel, attend a Good Friday service led by Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, right, inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
US Vice President JD Vance, and his wife Usha Vance, left, with their daughter Mirabel, attend a Good Friday service led by Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, right, inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

US Vice President JD Vance is meeting with the Vatican No. 2 official, following a remarkable papal rebuke of the Trump administration’s crackdown on migrants and Vance’s theological justification of it.
Vance, a Catholic convert, was due to meet Saturday with the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. There was speculation he might also briefly greet Pope Francis, who has begun resuming some official duties during his recovery from pneumonia.
Vance was spending Easter weekend in Rome with his family and attended Good Friday services in St. Peter’s Basilica on Friday after meeting with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, The Associated Press said.
Francis and Vance have tangled sharply over migration and the Trump administration’s plans to deport migrants en masse. Francis has made caring for migrants a hallmark of his papacy and his progressive views on social justice issues have often put him at odds with members of the more conservative US Catholic Church.
Vance, who converted in 2019, identifies with a small Catholic intellectual movement, viewed by some critics as having reactionary or authoritarian leanings, that is often called “postliberal.”
Postliberals share some longstanding Catholic conservative views. They envision a counterrevolution in which they take over government bureaucracy and institutions like universities from within, replacing entrenched “elites” with their own and acting upon their vision of the “common good.”
Just days before he was hospitalized in February, Francis blasted the Trump administration’s deportation plans, warning that they would deprive migrants of their inherent dignity. In a letter to US bishops, Francis also appeared to respond to Vance directly for having claimed that Catholic doctrine justified such policies.
Vance had defended the administration’s America-first crackdown by citing a concept from medieval Catholic theology known in Latin as “ordo amoris.” He has said the concept delineates a hierarchy of care — to family first, followed by neighbor, community, fellow citizens and lastly those elsewhere.
In his Feb. 10 letter, Francis appeared to correct Vance’s understanding of the concept.
“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extends to other persons and groups,” he wrote. “The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan,’ that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”
Vance has acknowledged Francis’ criticism but has said he would continue to defend his views. During a Feb. 28 appearance at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Vance didn’t address the issue specifically but called himself a “baby Catholic” and acknowledged there are “things about the faith that I don’t know.”
While he had criticized Francis on social media in the past, recently he has posted prayers for Francis’ recovery.
On Friday, Vance, his wife and three young children had front-row seats at the Vatican’s Good Friday service in St. Peter’s, a two-hour solemn commemoration featuring Latin and Italian readings. Francis did not attend.
But the pope has begun receiving visitors, including King Charles III, and this week ventured out of the Vatican to meet with prisoners at Rome's central jail to keep a Holy Thursday appointment ministering to the most marginalized.
He has named other cardinals to preside over Easter services this weekend, but officials haven't ruled out a possible brief greeting with Vance.
“I’m grateful every day for this job, but particularly today where my official duties have brought me to Rome on Good Friday,” Vance posted on X. “I wish all Christians all over the world, but particularly those back home in the US, a blessed Good Friday.”