US-Iran nuclear talks resume in Oman; Tehran says its ‘defense capabilities’ not on agenda

Top Iranian and US negotiators held a third round of talks in as many weeks in Oman on Saturday to curb Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, as US President Donald Trump signaled confidence in his ability to seal a new pact that would block Iran’s path to a nuclear bomb.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told Iranian state television that the Iran’s defense capabilities and missile program were not on the agenda for the talks Saturday. “The question of defence capacities and the country’s missiles is not [on the agenda] and has not been raised in the indirect talks,” the spokesperson said.

“Iran remains steadfast in its principled stance on the need to end unjust sanctions and is ready to build confidence about the peaceful nature of its nuclear program,” Baghaei told reporters in Oman.

While Iran says it opposes nuclear arms, the country has accelerated production of 60%-enriched uranium, an enrichment rate far above what is needed for civilian uses and a short technical step away from weapons-grade uranium.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that Washington seeks a deal that would prevent Iran from enriching any uranium, while his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi called the issue of enrichment “non-negotiable.”

Araghchi arrived Friday in Oman and met with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who has mediated the two previous rounds of talks in Muscat and Rome. Araghchi then visited the Muscat International Book Fair, surrounded by television cameras and photojournalists.

Meanwhile, US special envoy Steve Witkoff was in Moscow on Friday, meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, and arrived Saturday in Oman.

Witkoff and Araghchi began their third round of indirect talks about midday in the Omani capital of Muscat, Iranian state television reported. Shortly after the start of the meeting was announced, Iranian media reported at least four killed and hundreds wounded in an explosion in a key port in the south of Iran.

Neither Araghchi nor Witkoff has provided details of what they would discuss. Their negotiations were preceded this time by a technical-level meeting between experts from both sides. It was unclear if the technical talks were direct or indirect.

Iran’s state news agency IRNA said that while only one day of talks was scheduled, “given that the negotiations have entered technical and expert-level discussions and the examination of details… [they] may be extended if necessary.”

From the Iranian side, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-e Ravanchi was set to lead Tehran’s expert team, said Mohammad Golzari, an Iranian government official. Takht-e Ravanchi took part in the 2015 nuclear talks.

The US technical team, which is expected to arrive in Oman on Friday, was set to be led by Michael Anton, the director of US 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.

Trump, who traveled to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, told reporters aboard Air Force One that “the Iran situation is coming out very well.”

“We’ve had a lot of talks with them, and I think we’re going to have a deal. I’d much rather have a deal than the other alternative. That would be good for humanity,” said Trump. “There are some people that want to make a different kind of a deal — a much nastier deal — and I don’t want that to happen to Iran if we can avoid it.”

In an interview published by Time magazine Friday, Trump reiterated his hope that Iran’s nuclear program could be curbed diplomatically, but said he would be “leading the pack” in striking Iran if diplomacy fell short.

He also expressed willingness to meet with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, or President Masoud Pezeshkian. Iran’s leaders are sworn to destroy Israel, and back a regional network of terror proxies to further that aim. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded that the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities be entirely dismantled.

The new US-Iran talks, which Trump announced in a meeting with Netanyahu at the White House earlier this month, are the highest-level engagement between the long-time foes since 2018, when Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Netanyahu, according to Hebrew media, was updated about the new talks just hours before Trump’s announcement, and failed to gain assurances that Israel’s demands would be met or of what would happen if the talks fell through.

Since returning to the office in January, Trump has reinstated his “maximum pressure” policy of sanctions against Tehran. Speaking to Time, he blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden, for the death toll in Gaza, saying that Biden’s softening of the sanctions enabled Iran to build up its terror proxies, including Hamas, whose invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, sparked the war in the Strip.

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