Iran Says It Will Start Nuclear Talks With USA This Weekend

Iran said it will start high-level talks with the US in Oman this weekend, confirming Donald Trump’s announcement that they’ll discuss the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program.

“The talks will be held on Saturday in Oman,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday, adding that sanctions relief was Iran’s main goal. “They will take place in an indirect format, and we don’t accept any other method of negotiation.”

Trump, speaking Monday, said that “we’re dealing with them directly.”

“A lot of people say, ‘Oh, maybe you’re going through surrogates, you’re not dealing directly, you’re dealing through other countries.’,” he said. “No — we’re dealing with them directly.”

The meeting, according to Iran’s state-run Nour News, will be led by Araghchi and Steve Witkoff, the US president’s special envoy for the Middle East and one of Trump’s closest advisers. Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi will help mediate the discussions, Nour reported.

It will be the first time since September 2022 that the US and Iran are taking part in formal nuclear talks. The dispute over the format suggests there may be a delicate compromise, such as an initial gathering of all the participants followed by indirect discussions with Oman mediating. In any case, Tammy Bruce, spokeswoman for the US State Department, told reporters Tuesday that this weekend’s gathering will be “a matter of determining what’s possible” but there will be “no negotiations.”  

Iranian officials have long insisted that any talks must be indirect and through a regional mediator. The two countries haven’t directly engaged at a top level since the marathon negotiations that led to the landmark nuclear deal in 2015, which Trump pulled out of in 2018 during his first term in power.

That exit is one reason Iran remains wary of any deal with Trump. Oman has plenty of experience acting as a broker to resolve disputes involving Middle Eastern states and has previously mediated between the US and Iran.

The latest developments follow weeks of rising tension, leading to fears among regional governments that Tehran and Washington are heading for a conflict. 

The US military has been working with Israel on potential attack scenarios in case the diplomatic talks fail, according to people familiar with the matter. That’s included sending more American bombers to a US base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, said the people.

Last month, Trump sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, urging him to agree to a new deal or face possible military action.

Trump, in his letter, said Iran had two months to reach a deal before possibly facing military action. It is unclear if Trump was prepared to accept talks starting in that timeframe, given the difficulty in reaching a deal over such a complicated matter in a short time.

Since taking office in January, Trump has revived his “maximum pressure” strategy against Iran, targeting its oil exports, the banking system and other key industries. He’s said he wants to ensure Tehran never acquires a nuclear weapon, something Iranian officials have repeatedly denied they are pursuing.

Escalating Tensions

Iran’s nuclear program has dominated a tense and often hostile relationship with the US for more than 20 years. The two countries haven’t had formal diplomatic ties since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and have had direct contact on rare occasions, most notably when they started nuclear talks during Barack Obama’s presidency.

Those negotiations ultimately led to the 2015 accord — formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — that imposed strict caps on Iran’s atomic activity in exchange for sanctions relief from the US. 

When Trump withdrew the US from that deal, he imposed tougher sanctions on the Islamic Republic’s economy and oil exports, triggering a financial crisis and unraveling billions of dollars worth of investment agreements with foreign companies.

That move eventually prompted Iran to significantly ramp-up its nuclear activity. It’s now probably able to produce the amount of enriched uranium needed for a bomb in less than a week, though it would take longer than that to build an atomic weapon.

The Obama-era talks included a historic handshake between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in 2015. Those images stirred anger among hardliners in both Tehran and Washington.

In January, Khamenei publicly warned his officials to be suspicious of “the smiles of diplomats” and Zarif resigned from his latest post as a foreign-policy advisor to Iran’s current president, reformist Masoud Pezeshkian, amid mounting criticism from hawkish politicians in Tehran. 

This weekend, it’s likely that Iranian diplomats will be careful not to be seen directly engaging with American counterparts. Oman’s role will be key in terms of how both sides frame the talks to naysayers and supporters at home.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while in Washington on Monday, said Israel would support a deal if it was akin to one Libya signed in 2003 that dismantled its nuclear program. His government’s been skeptical that Iran — Israel’s arch-enemy — can be trusted with a diplomatic agreement and he was a vocal critic of the 2015 accord.

“If it can be done diplomatically in a full way the way that it was done in Libya I think that would be a good thing,” the Israeli leader said. “But whatever happens, we have to make sure that Iran does not have nuclear weapon.”

Iran’s economy has been struggling for years. Khamenei and the theocratic system that he governs have been broadly unpopular for some time, and the country has seen widespread protests. 

Currency Plunges

Since Pezeshkian took office last July on a mandate to secure sanctions relief from the US, Iran’s national currency, the rial, has lost nearly two-thirds of its value against the dollar. Experts warn the country urgently needs billions of dollars of investments.

Tehran, months ago, started sets of parallel talks with European powers and with China and Russia. All were part of the 2015 agreement. 

“The fact that Iran and the US are preparing to hold negotiations, even if via Oman’s mediation, shows that things are starting to speed up now,” said Elena Suponina, a Moscow-based Middle East expert. “But the question is, will Trump be ready for patience when the talks hit roadblocks?”

Russia, which is hosting talks in Moscow on Tuesday with China and Iran, is still trying to facilitate a solution to the Iranian nuclear dispute, Suponina said.