Description: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, announced that a sixth round of negotiations between the US and Iran has been scheduled for 15 Jun, in Oman’s capital, Muskat. Sources on the US side confirmed the negotiations were agreed upon, after US President Trump finished his phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Trump allegedly warned Netanyahu against continuing to threaten Iran with bombardment and reinforced a diplomatically acceptable solution to the dispute. US Lieutenant General Michael Kurilla while testifying for the Senate Armed Services Committee on his nomination to become Commander of the Central Command confirmed that he delivered a wide range of options for resolving the Iran crisis to the US President and Secretary of Defense, including military strikes. Recent developments upsurged tensions that the negotiations might falter, such as international pressure on Iran, the insurmountable dispute of the country’s enrichment ambitions as well as the recent covert operation which allegedly disclosed Israel’s secret nuclear program.
Impact: The sixth round of nuclear negotiations would be largely influenced by recent developments and the rapidly encroaching deadline for reaching a nuclear agreement. The IAEA Board of Governors is set to vote on Iran’s nuclear compliance which would additionally put pressure on the country ahead of the sixth round of talks. Iran would most probably delay the delivery of their counterproposal to the US until the meeting in Oman in order to avoid compromising its position and unveiling its strategy going forward. Both countries haven’t surpassed the initial differences over Iran’s enrichment and the easement of sanctions let alone other disputed factors such as Iran’s sponsorship of militant proxy groups and its ballistic missile program. The meeting in Oman would most probably deliver a proposed solution from the Iranian side which would naturally be disputed by the US and would further contribute towards insecurity and reverberation of the nuclear talks. US and Iran could also set an intermediated agreement in order to ease up tensions and serve as an overture towards a comprehensive nuclear agreement. Concrete steps going forward are expected from the sixth round of nuclear talks, given the fact that both countries have reached the negotiating pinnacle regarding Iran’s enrichment ambitions.