Iran, US to resume nuclear negotiations in Oman after expert-level meetings
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will hold the third round of indirect negotiations in Muscat through Omani mediators, aiming to hammer out a new nuclear deal.
Iranian state television suggested the talks could start mid-day Saturday. However, neither Araghchi nor Witkoff offered any immediate specifics or details on the negotiations that they’ll lead.
Talks are set to start at expert-level, which will begin drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, ahead of an indirect meeting between the lead negotiators.
Trump, in an interview with Time magazine published on Friday, said “I think we’re going to make a deal with Iran”, but he repeated a threat of military action against Iran if diplomacy fails.
While both Tehran and Washington have said they are set on pursuing diplomacy, they remain far apart on a dispute that has rumbled on for more than two decades.
As for the expert-level meetings, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-e Ravanchi will lead Tehran’s expert team, said Mohammad Golzari, an Iranian government official. Takht-e Ravanchi took part in the 2015 nuclear talks.
The U.S. technical team will be led by Michael Anton, the director of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s policy planning staff. Anton does not have the nuclear policy experience of those who led America’s efforts in the 2015 talks, according to the Associated Press.
Trump, who has restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran since February, ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six world powers in 2018 during his first term and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran.
