Iran and the United States had talks on Saturday in Oman, aimed at starting negotiations on a quick nuclear program in Tehran, and US President Donald Trump threatened military action if there is no contract.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led the delegation of Iran, while Trump's envoy in the Middle East Steve Witkoff managed the US side. The conversations were the first between Iran and Trump's administration, including his first term in 2017-21.
“Indirect conversations between Iran and the United States together with the mediation of the OMANI Foreign Minister” – the Iranian spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Esmail Baghaei published on X.
Each delegation had its own separate room and mentions messages through the Minister of Foreign Affairs Oman, said Baghaei.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Iran later published a statement with information that “indirect conversations” lasted over two and a half hours, and both sides agreed that negotiations would be continued next week.
The ministry at the end of Saturday talks that the heads of the Iranian and American delegation talked for several minutes in the presence of the foreign minister Omani Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi when they left the conversations.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States and Iran were ready to start direct talks about the Tehran nuclear program, warning that if the conversations fail, “Iran would be in great danger.” However, the senior Iranian official said that all negotiations would be indirect and Oman acted as an intermediary.
Strive to de -escalate regional tensions
“The current goal of the talks will be to decrail regional tensions, exchange prisoners and limited contracts to facilitate the sanctions (against Iran) in exchange for controlling the Iran nuclear program,” said Reuters Source of Oman.
Baghaei refused this account, but did not specify what was false.
Oman has long been an intermediary of Western powers and Iran, after the release of several foreign citizens and double citizens owned by the Islamic Republic.
Threatened bombing of the nuclear program
Tehran carefully approached the conversations, skeptical that they could express a contract and suspiciously towards Trump, who repeatedly threatened to bomb Iran, if he did not stop his escalation of the uranium enrichment program – perceived by the West as a possible path of nuclear weapons.
While each party talked about opportunities for some progress, they remain far from each other on a dispute, which has developed for over two decades. Iran has long denied the search for nuclear weapons, but Western countries and Israel believe that he secretly tries to develop funds to build a nuclear bomb.
At the moment, it seemed that Saturday's exchange would be indirectly, as Iran was looking for, not face to face, as Trump demanded.
Before the talks, Araghchi met with the Oman Foreign Minister in the Muscat capital to present “key points and positions of Tehran to be transferred to the USA,” Iranian state media informed.
There was no word about talks from the USA yet.
Signs of progress can help cool tensions in the region since 2023 with wars in Gaza and Lebanon, a rocket fire between Iran and Israel, Houthi attacks the shipping of the Red Sea and overthrowing the government in Syria.
However, failure would worsen the fears of a wider licking in the region, which exports a significant part of world oil. Tehran warned that neighboring countries that have American bases, that they would have to face “serious consequences” if they were involved in any American military attack on Iran.
“There is a chance for an initial understanding of further negotiations, if the other party (USA) contains conversations with an equal position,” said Araghchi on Iran TV.
The highest leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Chamenei, who has the last word about key state matters, gave Araghchi “full authority” to talks, said Reuters Iranian official.
Ballistic missile program not for discussion
Iran ruled out negotiating his defense capabilities, such as the ballistic missile program.
Western nations claim that the enrichment of uranium, the source of nuclear fuel by Iran, went far beyond the requirements of the civil energy program and produced reserves at the level of crevice cleanliness similar to those required in the heads.
Trump, which has been restored to the “maximum pressure” campaign in Tehran since February abandoned the nuclear pact 2015 Between Iran and the six world powers in 2018 during his first term and imposed mutilation sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
The nuclear program was promoted
Since then, Iran's nuclear program has jumped forward, including by enriching uranium to 60 % of the split purity, which is a technical step from the levels needed to the bomb.
Israel, the closest ally from the Middle East in Washington, considers Iran's nuclear program to be an existential threat and has long threatened with Iran, if diplomacy does not limit its nuclear ambitions.
The influence of Tehran in the Middle East has been seriously weakened in the last 18 months, with regional allies-known as the “axis of resistance”-a dismantled or seriously damaged Hamas-Israel from the beginning of the war in Gaza and the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December.