Trump envoy and Iranian FM meet after first round of nuclear talks in Oman

US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met briefly with Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi shortly after their two countries held their first round of talks on Tehran’s nuclear program in Oman and agreed to hold a second round next week.

The first known meeting between US and Iranian officials in years appeared to be a way for both sides to save face after US President Donald Trump announced at the beginning of the week that the talks would be direct, while Araghchi insisted that they would be indirect.

Regardless, both the over two-hour-long session mediated by Oman — with the US and Iran delegations in separate rooms — and the subsequent minutes-long conversation between Witkoff and Araghchi represented a potentially major tipping point in ties between the US and Iran.

Trump has warned that the failure of these talks could lead the US to strike Iran’s nuclear program. The US president said earlier this week that Israel would participate in such a strike, if not lead it.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.

But initial comments from Iran indicated that the sides were trending toward de-escalation. “After the end of more than 2-1/2 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,” Araghchi posted on his Telegram channel.

He said the talks — a first between Iran and the Trump administration, including his first term in 2017-21 — took place in a “productive and positive atmosphere.”

Araghchi later told Iranian state TV that the next round of talks will take place on April 19. He added that the location of next weekend’s talks may not be in Oman, but will still take place under Omani intermediation.

“Neither we nor the other party want fruitless negotiations, discussions for discussions’ sake, time-wasting, or talks that drag on forever,” Araghchi clarified.

He also said the US wants an agreement on a new nuclear deal “as soon as possible.”

“That will not be easy and will require a willingness on both sides,” he said.

American officials did not immediately acknowledge the Iranian reports, which Tehran likely sped out to its public ahead of a possible Trump post on social media. But declaring that the two sides spoke face-to-face — even if briefly — suggests the negotiations went well.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who mediated Saturday’s talks, tweeted they were held in a “friendly atmosphere” and launched a quest for a “fair and binding agreement.”

Talks between Iran and the US were focused on de-escalating regional tensions, prisoner exchanges, and limited agreements to ease sanctions in exchange for controlling Iran’s nuclear program, an Omani source told Reuters.

The talks began at around 3:30 p.m. local time. The two sides spoke for over two hours at a location in the outskirts of Oman, ending the talks around 5:50 p.m. local time. A convoy believed to be carrying Witkoff returned to Muscat, the capital of Oman, before disappearing into traffic around a neighborhood that is home to the US Embassy.

AP journalists saw Witkoff’s convoy leave the Omani Foreign Ministry earlier Saturday afternoon, speeding off into the outskirts of Muscat where the indirect talks were held at an undisclosed compound. A few minutes later, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei wrote on the social platform X that the “indirect talks” had begun.

“These talks will be held at a location planned by the Omani host, with representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States seated in the halls and sides, conveying their points of view and positions to each other through the Omani Foreign Minister,” Baghaei wrote before the meeting.

About an hour later, Baghaei appeared on Iranian state television and acknowledged the talks had been going on all that time.

“The objective of the Islamic Republic of Iran is very clear — we have only one goal, and that is to safeguard Iran’s national interests,” he said. “We are giving a genuine and honest opportunity to diplomacy, so that through dialogue, we can move forward on the nuclear issue on one hand, and more importantly for us, the lifting of sanctions.”

Baghaei added: “Look, this is just a beginning. So it is natural that, at this stage, both sides will present their foundational positions through the Omani mediator. Therefore, we do not expect this round of negotiations to be lengthy.”

Araghchi also spoke earlier to Iranian journalists.

“If there is sufficient will on both sides, we will decide on a timetable. But it is still too early to talk about that,” Araghchi said in an audio clip published by IRNA. “What is clear now is that the negotiations are indirect, and in our view only on the nuclear issue, and will be conducted with the necessary will to reach an agreement that is on an equal footing and leads to securing the national interests of the Iranian people.”

Trump and Witkoff both had described the talks as being “direct” in the days before the meeting..

“I think our position begins with dismantlement of your program. That is our position today,” Witkoff told The Wall Street Journal before his trip. “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.”

He added: “Where our red line will be, there can’t be weaponization of your nuclear capability.”

That red line indicated a degree of flexibility in the Trump administration’s position and a potential break with Israel, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asserted that he will only accept the full dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Iran “can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said ahead of high-stakes weekend talks over the state’s nuclear program.

“I want Iran to be a wonderful, great, happy country. But they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” the US president told reporters aboard Air Force One, hours before Witkoff’s meeting in Oman.

While the US side can offer sanctions relief for Iran’s beleaguered economy, it remains unclear just how much Iran will be willing to concede. Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran could only maintain a small stockpile of uranium enriched to 3.67%.

Today, Tehran’s stockpile could allow it to build multiple nuclear weapons if it so chooses, and it has some material enriched up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels. Judging from negotiations since Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the deal in 2018, Iran will likely ask to keep enriching uranium up to at least 20%.

One thing it won’t do is give up its program entirely. That seemingly makes Netanyahu’s proposal of a so-called Libyan solution — “you go in, blow up the facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision, American execution” — unworkable.

Iranians, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have held up what ultimately happened to the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was killed with his own gun by rebels in the country’s 2011 Arab Spring uprising, as a warning about what can happen when you trust the United States.