Iranian president orders start of talks with US on nuke profile -- local media
Xinhua
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TEHRAN, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the start of negotiations with the United States within the framework of the nuclear issue, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported Monday, citing an unnamed government source.

In this handout picture provided by Iranian presidency, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses cabinet members, as they visit of the tomb of the late Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in Tehran on January 31, 2026, ahead of the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. (File photo: AFP)

Fars, quoting Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei's remarks earlier in the day as saying, added that talks between Iran and the United States will probably be held in Türkiye in the next few days.

Meanwhile, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, quoting an unidentified informed source, also confirmed that senior officials from the two sides will probably begin negotiations in the coming days.

The negotiations will probably be held between Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, Tasnim reported, adding that the venue and exact date of the negotiations have not been finalized yet.

The developments come as tensions between Tehran and Washington remain high amid increased U.S. military activity in the Middle East. Trump's administration deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and multiple warships to the Middle East in late January.

On Sunday, Trump said if Tehran fails to strike a nuclear deal with Washington, "we will find out" whether Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was right to warn that a U.S. attack could ignite a regional war.

Meanwhile, Araghchi said Sunday in an interview with CNN that a "just, fair, and equitable" nuclear agreement with the United States remains achievable in the short term, provided Washington abandons its policy of coercion.

Earlier on Monday, Baghaei told a weekly press conference in Tehran that Iran is reviewing the details and general outlines of the potential initiation of negotiations with the United States.