US-Iran complete first round of nuclear talks with little movement

Envoys from the United States and Iran completed the first round of talks regarding Tehran’s developing nuclear program with little movement, but indicated the discussions will continue next week, reports The Hill.

Middle East envoy Steve Wiktoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi “briefly spoke in the presence of the Omani foreign minister” toward the end of the meeting, according to Iranian state TV.

The two sides spoke for more than two hours, just outside of Muscat, the capital of Oman. The meeting was mediated by Omani foreign minister Badr Al-Busaidy, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei confirmed Saturday morning in a post on social platform X.

Baghaei said the two delegations were seated in separate rooms, and they would relay their messages through Al-Busaidy, according to the spokesperson.

The talks between the two countries come as President Trump has repeatedly pushed to reach a new nuclear deal with Iran. Trump in 2018 notably pulled out of a previous agreement that was brokered by former President Obama.

The White House, however, has emphasized that a fresh deal must include Tehran disposing of its nuclear arsenal.

If an agreement is not reached, the president said, military action against the country might ensue. The warning comes after the US imposed new sanctions on five entities and one individual based in Iran earlier this week for their support of those overseeing the nuclear program.

“I want Iran to be a wonderful, great, happy country, but they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters Friday aboard Air Force One.

Before discussions with the US delegation, Araghchi and Al-Busaidy met in Muscat, Oman. Iran’s top diplomat expressed gratitude to Oman for hosting the talks and shared the “key points and positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran with his Omani counterpart to be conveyed to the other side.” 

Ahead of the high-stakes talks, Witkoff said the administration’s “red line” with Iran is preventing the Islamic nation from churning out a nuclear weapon. 

Witkoff, who Trump has delegated the lead negotiator in ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine, said the administration’s starting demand is for Tehran to nix its nuclear program. The same position is also held by Israel, but the envoy said there’s some room for compromise to strike a deal. 

“I think our position begins with dismantlement of your program. That is our position today,” Witkoff told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday. “That doesn’t mean, by the way, that at the margin we’re not going to find other ways to find compromise between the two countries.”

“Where our red line will be, there can’t be weaponization of your nuclear capability,” he said.

Witkoff added that if a deal with Tehran is forged, there needs to be a robust verification process to ensure that Iran is not working on producing a nuclear bomb. He told The Journal that the Saturday talks are about “trust building.”  

“It is about talking about why it is so important for us to get to a deal, not the exact terms of the deal,” he said.