Iranians closely follow 3rd round of nuclear talks with US

Iranians are closely following the third round of indirect negotiations with the United States that began on Saturday in Muscat, the capital of Oman. An Iranian delegation led by Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi arrived in Muscat on Friday afternoon. the U.S. team, led by Steve Witkoff, U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East, arrived Saturday morning.

The two sides will talk on the Iranian nuclear issue and the U.S. lifting of sanctions on Iran, with focuses on technical and key topics including uranium enrichment.

According to the Iranian media, expert-level technical talks between Iran and the U.S. will be held on Saturday morning. The talks will be conducted indirectly, with Oman passing information between the two sides. However, the possibility of a direct high-level dialog between Araghchi and Witkoff is not ruled out.

On April 12, the U.S. and Iran held indirect talks in Muscat, marking the first official negotiation between the two sides since the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 during President Donald Trump's first term.

The second round of indirect talks took place in Rome, Italy, on April 19.

All parties, including Oman, stated that the first two rounds of talks were friendly and constructive, but Iranian media pointed out that the first two rounds were mainly framework negotiations and had not yet touched upon the core issues of disagreement.

According to media reports, one of the key issues in the expert-level negotiations will be whether the United States will allow Iran to continue uranium enrichment within the framework of its nuclear program, although Iran has repeatedly stressed that its nuclear program is only for peaceful civilian purposes. In response, Araghchi made it clear that Iran's right to uranium enrichment is non-negotiable.

Araghchi posted on social media on Friday that the Iranian negotiating delegation is determined to protect its people's legitimate and lawful rights to peacefully use nuclear energy. He also noted that objectively and quickly ending the illegal and inhumane sanctions imposed by the United States against the Iranian people is Iran's top priority.

All sectors of Iran are paying close attention to this negotiation. Iranian medium Fararu pointed out in a report on Friday that the negotiation process may be long, complicated and unpredictable judging from previous negotiations. The report said that although the leaders of both countries are willing to reach an agreement, there are currently influential opponents in both Iran and the United States who oppose the U.S.-Iran agreement.

Iranians closely follow 3rd round of nuclear talks with US

The strategic partnership between China and Slovakia has entered the "fast lane" of development, Chinese President Xi Jinping said during his meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Moscow on Friday.

The meeting came on the sidelines of the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War.

Xi pointed out that promoting the all-round, in-depth and high-level development of China-Slovakia relations is in line with the fundamental interests of the two peoples and conforms to the historical trend of open cooperation and mutual benefit.

The two countries should deepen their traditional friendship, maintain close high-level exchanges, firmly support each other, expand mutually beneficial collaboration, and advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, so as to push for sustained progress in the development of China-Slovakia and China-EU relations, said Xi.

Xi said China welcomes Slovakia's participation as the guest country of honor in the fourth edition of the China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) Expo, supports the exports of high-quality Slovak products to the Chinese market, and hopes to see more Chinese enterprises invest and do business in Slovakia.

China is ready to work with Slovakia and other countries in solidarity to cope with challenges and uphold international fairness and justice, Xi said, adding that China hopes Slovakia will actively promote continuous development of China-EU ties.

For his part, Fico said deepening the strategic partnership with China is a top priority of Slovakia's foreign policy, adding that Slovakia will firmly adhere to the one-China policy.

Slovakia will actively promote friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation with China, strengthen trade and investment ties, and enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges, he said.

Noting that a healthy and stable EU-China relationship is in the interest of both sides, Fico said Slovakia is committed to promoting the development of relations between the EU and China.

He expressed Slovakia's support for the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, appreciation of China's position and constructive role in global affairs such as the Ukraine crisis and the Middle East question, and willingness to work with China to uphold multilateralism, safeguard free trade rules, and maintain stability of the global production and supply chains.

Xi says China-Slovakia strategic partnership entering "fast lane" of development