Iran, US to resume talks in Oman to narrow gaps over new nuclear deal
Top Iranian and US negotiators will meet again on Saturday to hammer out a new deal curbing Tehran’s advancing nuclear program, while US President Donald Trump signalled confidence in clinching a pact that would block Iran’s path to a nuclear bomb.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi will negotiate indirectly with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Muscat through Omani mediators, a week after a second round in Rome that both sides described as constructive.
Talks are set to begin at the expert level, which will start 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 if diplomacy fails.
While both Tehran and Washington say they are committed to diplomacy, they remain far apart on a dispute that has dragged on for more than two decades.
Trump, who has restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran since February, withdrew from a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six world powers in 2018 during his first term and reimposed crippling sanctions on the country.
