A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday that Tehran is willing to offer concessions on its uranium enrichment program, but only if the United States agrees to lift all economic sanctions first.
The proposal, delivered anonymously ahead of the next round of indirect talks scheduled for Thursday in Geneva, includes sending half of Iran’s most highly enriched uranium abroad, diluting the remainder, and participating in a regional enrichment consortium. Iran also floated opening its oil and gas industries to U.S. contractors.
The catch: Washington would have to recognize Iran’s right to “peaceful nuclear enrichment” and remove every sanction currently in place.
“Both sides need to reach a logical timetable for lifting sanctions,” the official said. “This roadmap must be reasonable and based on mutual interests.”
The demands are largely unchanged from Iran’s position since President Donald Trump withdrew from the Obama-era JCPOA nuclear deal in 2018. Even under that agreement, Tehran complained it never received the economic benefits it was promised.
Trump’s envoy to the negotiations, Steve Witkoff, appeared on Fox News Sunday and described the president as “frustrated” that Iran hasn’t offered serious concessions despite mounting American military pressure in the region.
“Why, under this sort of pressure, with the amount of sea power and naval power that we have over there, why haven’t they come to us and said, ‘We profess that we don’t want a weapon, so here’s what we’re prepared to do?'” Witkoff said.
Witkoff added a stark warning: Iran could be “a week away” from refining its highly enriched uranium to “industrial-grade bomb-making material.”
“We can’t have that,” he said.
The previous round of talks in Geneva produced what Iranian officials described as progress on “guiding principles,” though diplomatic sources say the two sides remain far apart on core issues. Some observers believe a military conflict could erupt before Thursday’s session even begins.
Iran currently enriches uranium to 60% purity, a short technical step from the 90% weapons-grade threshold. The country has steadily expanded its nuclear program since the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, building up stockpiles that the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly flagged as concerning.
The Trump administration has positioned significant naval assets in the region over recent weeks, a show of force intended to back up diplomatic demands. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed last week that additional carrier strike groups had been deployed to the Persian Gulf.
Iran’s offer to open its energy sector to American companies represents a new wrinkle in the negotiations. Previous rounds focused almost exclusively on enrichment levels and sanctions timelines. Analysts say the move is designed to give Washington an economic incentive to deal, rather than relying solely on security concessions.
But the precondition of total sanctions relief before any nuclear rollback is a non-starter for the Trump administration, which has insisted on verifiable steps toward disarmament before any economic pressure is eased.
The Geneva talks are being conducted indirectly, with Oman serving as an intermediary. Neither side has agreed to face-to-face meetings.
Thursday’s session will be the third round since negotiations resumed earlier this month. The outcome could determine whether diplomacy continues or whether the standoff escalates into something far more dangerous.
