Iran rejects "zero enrichment" at talks with U.S. in Muscat -- Iranian media

MUSCAT, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Iran has rejected a "zero enrichment" demand at the indirect talks with the United States in Oman's Muscat, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported Friday.

The two sides have centered on the dilution of Iran's existing uranium stockpile, Mehr reported.

The atmosphere of the talks is "more serious" than the previous rounds of talks between the two sides, it added.

Meanwhile, Iran's state-run IRIB TV reported Friday that the talks ended "for now" in Muscat, and that the two delegations may return home.

In a previous report on Friday, IRIB said that several messages had been exchanged between the two sides via Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi, and that the talks might stretch into the coming days.

The latest round of indirect talks started earlier on Friday, with an Iranian delegation headed by Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, and a U.S. delegation led by U.S. president's special envoy Steve Witkoff.

The talks came amid heightened regional tensions, especially between Washington and Tehran, featuring a recent U.S. military buildup in the Middle East and Iran's stepped-up preparations. ■