Iran, US hold ‘positive’ talks in Oman, agree to resume next week
DUBAI—Iran and the United States said they held “positive” and “constructive” talks in Oman on Saturday and agreed to reconvene next week in a dialogue meant to address Tehran’s escalating nuclear program, with President Donald Trump threatening military action if there is no deal.
“I think we are very close to a basis for negotiations and if we can conclude this basis next week, we’ll have gone a long way and will be able to start real discussions based on that,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told state television.
Araqchi said the talks—the first between Iran and a Trump administration, including his 2017 to 2021 first term—took place in a “productive, calm and positive atmosphere.”
“Both sides have agreed to continue the talks … probably next Saturday,” Araqchi added. “Iran and the US side want an agreement in the short term. We do not want talks for (the sake of) talks.”
The White House called the talks involving Trump’s Middle East envoy Steven Witkoff, US Ambassador to Oman Ana Escrogima and Araqchi “very positive and constructive.”
‘Complicated’ issues
“These issues are very complicated, and Special Envoy Witkoff’s direct communication today was a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome,” it said in a statement. “The sides agreed to meet again next Saturday.”
Asked about the talks, Trump told reporters on Saturday night: “I think they’re going OK.”
“Nothing matters until you get it done, so I don’t like talking about it, but it’s going OK. The Iran situation is going pretty good, I think,” he said on Air Force One.
Trump made a surprise announcement on Monday that Washington and Tehran would begin talks in Oman, a Gulf state that has mediated between the West and the Islamic Republic before. It has brokered the release of several foreign citizens and dual nationals held by Iran.
Saturday’s exchanges were indirect and mediated by Oman, as Iran had wanted, rather than face-to-face, as Trump had demanded. Each delegation had its separate room and exchanged messages via Oman’s foreign minister, according to Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei.
Araqchi said his delegation had a brief encounter with its US counterpart headed by Witkoff, after they exited the talks.
‘Political etiquette’
“After the end of more than 2 and 1/2 hours of indirect talks, the heads of the Iranian and American delegations spoke for a few minutes in the presence of the Omani foreign minister as they left the talks. It (the encounter) was based on our political etiquette,” Araqchi said.
“The current focus of the talks will be deescalating regional tensions, prisoner exchanges and limited agreements to ease sanctions (against Iran) in exchange for controlling Iran’s nuclear program,” an Omani source told Reuters.
Baghaei denied this account but did not specify what was false.
Trump, who in his first term withdrew the United States from a 2015 big-power accord with Tehran, has again brought a tougher approach to a Middle Eastern power whose nuclear program Washington’s ally Israel regards as an existential threat.
At the same time, Iran and allied groups have been weakened by the military offensives Israel has launched across the region, including airstrikes in Iran, during its war with Hamas after the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza in October 2023.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s ambassador to international bodies in Vienna, called the statements issued by both sides after the talks “encouraging.”
