Iran, US Hold 5th Round of Nuke Talks  05/23 06:19

   Iran and the United States prepared for a fifth round of negotiations over 
Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program Friday in Rome, with enrichment 
emerging as the key issue.

   ROME (AP) -- Iran and the United States prepared for a fifth round of 
negotiations over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program Friday in Rome, 
with enrichment emerging as the key issue.

   U.S. officials up to President Donald Trump insist Iran cannot continue to 
enrich uranium at all in any deal that could see sanctions lifted on Tehran's 
struggling economy. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi early Friday 
insisted online that no enrichment would mean "we do NOT have a deal."

   "Figuring out the path to a deal is not rocket science," Araghchi wrote on 
the social platform X. "Time to decide."

   The U.S. will be again represented in the talks by Mideast envoy Steve 
Witkoff and Michael Anton, the State Department's policy planning director. 
Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi is mediating the negotiations as the 
sultanate on the Arabian Peninsula has been a trusted interlocutor by both 
Tehran and Washington in the talks.

   A car carrying Araghchi arrived at the Omani Embassy in Rome's Camilluccia 
neighborhood around 12:30 p.m. Witkoff had yet to be seen, but the embassy 
previously served as the site of another round of talks.

   Enrichment remains key in negotiations

   The talks seek to limit Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting 
of some of the crushing economic sanctions the U.S. has imposed on the Islamic 
Republic, closing in on half a century of enmity.

   Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran's 
program if a deal isn't reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn they could 
pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near 
weapons-grade levels.

   "Iran almost certainly is not producing nuclear weapons, but Iran has 
undertaken activities in recent years that better position it to produce them, 
if it chooses to do so," a new report from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency 
said. "These actions reduce the time required to produce sufficient 
weapons-grade uranium for a first nuclear device to probably less than one 
week."

   However, it likely still would take Iran months to make a working bomb, 
experts say.

   Enrichment remains the key point of contention. Witkoff at one point 
suggested Iran could enrich uranium at 3.67%, then later began saying all 
Iranian enrichment must stop. That position on the American side has hardened 
over time.

   Asked about the negotiations, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said 
"we believe that we are going to succeed" in the talks and on Washington's push 
for no enrichment.

   "The Iranians are at that table, so they also understand what our position 
is, and they continue to go," Bruce said Thursday.

   One idea floated so far that might allow Iran to stop enrichment in the 
Islamic Republic but maintain a supply of uranium could be a consortium in the 
Mideast backed by regional countries and the U.S. There also are multiple 
countries and the International Atomic Energy Agency offering low-enriched 
uranium that can be used for peaceful purposes by countries.

   However, Iran's Foreign Ministry has maintained enrichment must continue 
within the country's borders and a similar fuel-swap proposal failed to gain 
traction in negotiations in 2010.

   Meanwhile, Israel has threatened to strike Iran's nuclear facilities on 
their own if it feels threatened, further complicating tensions in the Mideast 
already spiked by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

   Araghchi warned Thursday that Iran would take "special measures" to defend 
its nuclear facilities if Israel continues to threaten them, while also warning 
the U.S. it would view it as being complicit in any Israeli attack. Authorities 
allowed a group of Iranian students to form a human chain Thursday at its 
underground enrichment site at Fordo, an area with incredibly tight security 
built into a mountain to defend against possible airstrikes.

   Talks come as US pressure on Iran increases

   Yet despite the tough talk from Iran, the Islamic Republic needs a deal. Its 
internal politics are inflamed over the mandatory hijab, or headscarf, with 
women still ignoring the law on the streets of Tehran. Rumors also persist over 
the government potentially increasing the cost of subsidized gasoline in the 
country, which has sparked nationwide protests in the past.

   Iran's rial currency plunged to over 1 million to a U.S. dollar in April. 
The currency has improved with the talks, however, something Tehran hopes will 
continue as a further collapse in the rial could spark further economic unrest.

   Meanwhile, its self-described "Axis of Resistance" sits in tatters after 
Iran's regional allies in the region have faced repeated attacks by Israel 
during its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The collapse of Syrian 
President Bashar Assad's government during a rebel advance in December also 
stripped Iran of a key ally.

   The Trump administration also has continued to levy new sanctions on Iran, 
including this week, which saw the U.S. specifically target any sale of sodium 
perchlorate to the Islamic Republic. Iran reportedly received that chemical in 
shipments from China at its Shahid Rajaei port near Bandar Abbas. A major, 
unexplained explosion there killed dozens and wounded over 1,000 others in 
April during one round of the talks.