US Seeks De-Escalation of Tensions With Iran

American officials say they have expressed interest in de-escalation of tensions with Iran in recent indirect talks held in the Omani capital Muscat. 
“We have told them we are interested in a de-escalatory path, and we want to see whether they are prepared to do that,” a senior US official said in an interview with the Diplomatic newsletter on condition of anonymity. 
The question is, the official added, whether Iran is willing to take steps that will show that they are open to trying to change the current trajectory. 
Those steps could include providing greater access to the International Atomic Energy Agency and releasing American citizens jailed by Iran, according to the official. 
“That could open up different possibilities and create a different context for a potential diplomatic process.” 
Iran and the US have been engaged in indirect negotiations over the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. 
The deal had curbed Iran’s nuclear activity in return for sanctions relief, but US former president Donald Trump quit the agreement and reimposed tough sanctions that prompted Tehran to react by scaling down its commitments. 
Talks coordinated by the European Union in the Austrian capital Vienna have been stalled since last August, but the exchange of messages is still underway through intermediaries, according to Iranian officials. 
Most recently in May, indirect talks were reported to have occurred between the two in Oman, which included on the US side National Security Council Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk, as well as US Special Envoy on Iran Robert Malley. The Iran team was reported to have been led by Deputy Foreign Minister and Iranian top nuclear negotiator Ali Baqeri Kani. 
Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Monday that the discussions in Muscat were not secret, and that it was part of the ongoing process. 
The US officials also asserted that in the Muscat talks, they conveyed “unambiguous” warnings that Iran should not conduct weapons-grade enrichment. 
“We’ve been very clear in messages to Iran through whatever existing channels, that if they were to take some steps, it could lead us to a very dangerous spot, and we’ve been very clear that they should avoid them,” the official said. 
Iran has exceeded the JCPOA’s enrichment caps and is now producing uranium at 60% purity, although remaining in compliance with the obligations of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. 
Particles enriched at nearly 84% were recently detected in an Iranian nuclear facility, but the IAEA was convinced by Tehran’s explanations that they were only byproducts developed naturally during the enrichment process. 
Iran denies any intention to build an atomic weapon, maintaining that its nuclear activities are exclusively for civil purposes.