Iran announces indirect discussions will be held in Oman, while Trump says the opposite
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is expected to lead indirect talks in Oman with U.S. Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff, while President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the two sides were poised to begin direct talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, according to Reuters News agency.
“We’re having direct talks with Iran, and they’ve started. It’ll go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting, and we’ll see what can happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, warning that if the talks were unsuccessful, “Iran is going to be in great danger.”
Trump declined to say where the talks would take place but held out the possibility that a deal could be reached.
Iran, on the other hand, had pushed back against Trump’s demands in recent weeks that it directly negotiate over its nuclear program or be bombed, and it appeared to be sticking to that position on Monday.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi posted on X that indirect high-level talks would be held in Oman, adding, “It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America’s court.”
Iran’s Nournews, affiliated with the country’s top security body, described Trump’s statement about a planned direct meeting as part of a “psychological operation aimed at influencing domestic and international public opinion.”
After Trump spoke, a senior Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters, “The talks will not be direct … It will be with Oman’s mediation.” Oman, which maintains good relations with both the U.S. and Iran, has been a longtime channel for messages between the rival states.
Another Iranian official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said over the weekend there was possibly a window of around two months to reach a deal.
The U.S. and Iran held indirect talks during former President Joe Biden’s term, but they made little, if any progress. The last known direct negotiations between the two governments were under then-President Barack Obama, who spearheaded the 2015 international nuclear deal that Trump later abandoned.
Warnings by Trump of military action against Iran had jangled already tense nerves across the Middle East. Moreover, Tehran is warning its neighbours that host U.S. bases that they could be in the firing line if involved.
Meanwhile, Russia, China and Iran will hold consultations at expert level on the Iranian nuclear programme in Moscow on Tuesday, Russian state agency RIA reported, citing Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
