Iran and the United States held in-depth negotiations in Oman over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program on Saturday, ending the discussions with a promise for more talks and perhaps another high-level meeting next weekend.
The talks ran for several hours in Muscat, the mountain-wrapped capital of this sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula.
A person close to Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, acknowledged that the meeting had started and later ended. The source spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks. Iranian state television also reported their conclusion.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state television after the talks that the parties exchanged written points throughout the day in discussions that he described as "very serious and work-focused."
"This time, the negotiations were much more serious than in the past, and we gradually entered into deeper and more detailed discussions," he said. "We have moved somewhat away from broader, general discussions — though it is not the case that all disagreements have been resolved. Differences still exist both on major issues and on the details."
Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who has mediated the two previous round of talks in Muscat and Rome, offered a positive note at the end of Saturday's negotiations.
Iran and the US "identified a shared aspiration to reach agreement based on mutual respect and enduring commitments," al-Busaidi posted on X. "Core principles, objectives and technical concerns were all addressed. Talks will continue next week with a further high-level meeting provisionally scheduled for May 3."
Araghchi arrived Friday in Oman on the eve of the talks and visited the Muscat International Book Fair, surrounded by television cameras and photojournalists. Witkoff was in Moscow on Friday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and arrived on Saturday to Oman.
Decades of tensions
The talks seek to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the US has imposed on Tehran closing in on a half-century of enmity.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers did limit Tehran's program. However, Trump unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018, setting in motion years of attacks and tensions. The wider Middle East also remains on edge over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Trump, traveling to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis, again said that he hoped negotiations would lead to a new nuclear deal. However, he still held out the possibility of a military strike if they didn't.
"The Iran situation is coming out very well," Trump said on Air Force One. "We've had a lot of talks with them and I think we're going to have a deal. I'd much rather have a deal than the other alternative. That would be good for humanity."
He added: "There are some people that want to make a different kind of a deal — a much nastier deal — and I don’t want that to happen to Iran if we can avoid it."
Talks turn to experts
From the Iranian side, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-e Ravanchi headed up Tehran’s expert team, said Mohammad Golzari, an Iranian government official. Takht-e Ravanchi took part in the 2015 nuclear talks.
The US technical team was led by Michael Anton, the director of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s policy planning staff. Anton doesn't have the nuclear policy experience of those who led Washington’s efforts in the 2015 talks.
Iran has insisted that keeping its enrichment is key. But Witkoff has muddied the issue by first suggesting in a television interview that Iran could enrich uranium at 3.67%, then later saying that all enrichment must stop. The demand that all enrichment stop also has been repeated by Rubio.
However, Iranians remain hopeful that the talks could be successful, as the Iranian rial has rebounded from historic lows during which it took more than 1 million rials to buy $1.
"It’s OK to negotiate, to make the nuclear program smaller or bigger, and reach a deal," Tehran resident Farzin Keivan said. "Of course we shouldn’t give them everything. After all, we’ve suffered a lot for this program."
