US warned Iran on 90% uranium enrichment during talks in Oman last month: Report

US and Iranian officials engaged in indirect talks in Oman last month, where Washington conveyed a strong warning to Tehran that it would face serious consequences if it enriched uranium up to 90 per cent purity, according to a report.

Brett McGurk, the White House National Security Council’s Middle East policy coordinator, and an Iranian delegation that included Ali Bagheri-Kani, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, were in present Oman in early May, Axios reported on June 10, citing unnamed sources.

Instead of meeting directly, the two sides remained in separate locations, with Omani officials serving as intermediaries to facilitate the exchange of messages, Al Arabiya cites the report.

One of the main messages from the US to the Iranians focused on deterrence, with Washington making it clear that Iran would pay a “heavy price” if it chose to enrich uranium up to 90 percent, the level needed to produce a nuclear bomb.

This comes as efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal have stalled since last year. The deal offered Iran relief from international sanctions in exchange for strict but temporary curbs on its nuclear program.

The agreement unraveled after the US withdrew from it under former President Donald Trump in 2018.

Last month, Yoav Gallant, the defense minister of Iran’s arch-foe, Israel, warned that if Tehran chose to enrich uranium to 90 percent, it would be a “grave mistake” with the potential to “could ignite the region.”

Iran has denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons and insists that it has not attempted to enrich uranium beyond 60-percent purity.