US, Iran report progress in nuclear talks, will meet again

US, Iran report progress in nuclear talks, will meet again
By Barnaby Chesterman with Ramin Khanizadeh in Tehran
Rome (AFP) April 19, 2025

The United States and Iran made progress in a second round of high-stakes talks on Tehran's nuclear programme on Saturday and agreed to meet again next week, both sides said.

The Oman-mediated talks in Rome lasted about four hours, Iranian state television and a senior US official said. Tehran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi declared it a "good meeting" that yielded progress.

"This time we managed to reach a better understanding on a series of principles and goals," he told Iranian state TV.

The senior US official said in a statement, "Today, in Rome over four hours in our second round of talks, we made very good progress in our direct and indirect discussions."

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the parties "agreed to resume indirect talks at a technical level over the next few days and subsequently continue at the level of two senior negotiators next Saturday", April 26.

The US official confirmed another meeting next week but did not specify which day or where.

Oman said the third round would be in Muscat, returning to the site of the first talks a week ago.

Those were the first discussions at such a high level between the foes since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear accord in 2018.

Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons -- an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes.

After Saturday's talks, Oman's foreign ministry said Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had agreed to keep negotiating.

The talks, it said, "aim to seal a fair, enduring and binding deal which will ensure Iran (is) completely free of nuclear weapons and sanctions, and maintaining its ability to develop peaceful nuclear energy".

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said the talks were "gaining momentum and now even the unlikely is possible".

Baqaei said the delegations had been "in two different rooms" at the Omani ambassador's residence, with Albusaidi passing messages between them.

Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

After returning to office in January, Trump revived his "maximum pressure" campaign of sanctions against Iran.

In March he wrote to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging renewed nuclear talks while also warning of military action if diplomacy failed.

"I'm not in a rush" to use the military option, Trump said Thursday. "I think Iran wants to talk."

On Friday, Araghchi said Iran "observed a degree of seriousness" on the US side during the first round but questioned their "intentions and motivations".

- 'Crucial stage' -

In an interview published Wednesday by French newspaper Le Monde, the United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Iran was "not far" from possessing a nuclear bomb, noting a day later that talks were "at a very crucial stage".

During Trump's first term, Washington withdrew from the 2015 accord between Tehran and world powers that offered Iran relief from international sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

Tehran complied with the agreement for a year after Trump's withdrawal before scaling back its compliance.

Araghchi was a negotiator of the 2015 deal. His US counterpart, Witkoff, is a real estate magnate Trump has also tasked with talks on Ukraine.

Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 percent limit in the deal but still below the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged European countries to decide whether to trigger the "snapback" mechanism under the 2015 agreement, which would automatically reinstate UN sanctions on Iran over its non-compliance.

The option to trigger the mechanism expires in October.

Iran has previously warned it could withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the mechanism were triggered.

- 'Non-negotiable' -

Analysts had said the United States would push to include discussions over Iran's ballistic missile programme and its support for militants in the Middle East.

But Araghchi said Saturday the US side had "not raised any issues unrelated to the nuclear topic so far".

He said earlier this week Iran's right to enrich uranium was "non-negotiable", after Witkoff called for its complete halt. Witkoff had previously demanded only that Iran return to the ceiling set by the 2015 deal.

On Friday US ally Israel affirmed its commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, saying it had a "clear course of action" to do so -- a stance Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Saturday.

"I will not give up on this, I will not let go of it, and I will not retreat from it -- not even by a millimetre," he said.

UN nuclear chief says Iran, US running out of time to secure deal
Tehran (AFP) April 17, 2025 - UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Thursday that Iran and the United States were running out of time to secure a deal as they prepare to hold fresh nuclear talks this weekend.

Iranian and US delegations are to gather in Rome on Saturday for a second round of Omani-mediated negotiations, a week after the longtime foes held their highest-level talks since US President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear accord in 2018.

In March, Trump sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging talks and warning of possible military action if Iran refused.

"We are in a very crucial stage of these important negotiations. We know we don't have much time. This is why I am here... to facilitate this process," Grossi said on a visit to Tehran.

"We are working hard and we want to succeed," he told a joint news conference with Iran's atomic energy agency chief Mohammad Eslami, acknowledging that the effort to secure a deal was "not an easy process".

On Wednesday, Grossi met with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led the first round of talks with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday.

Araghchi said he had a "useful" meeting with the International Atomic Energy Agency chief.

"The IAEA can play a crucial role in peaceful settlement of the Iranian nuclear file in the coming months," he said.

Araghchi called on the IAEA chief to "keep the agency away from politics" in the face of those seeking to "derail current negotiations". He did not elaborate.

Oman's foreign ministry confirmed it would again mediate the talks, which it said will be in Rome "for logistical reasons."

- 'Not far' from possessing bomb -

Before heading to Iran, Grossi told French newspaper Le Monde that Tehran was "not far" from possessing a nuclear bomb.

Western governments have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons capability, an ambition Tehran has consistently denied.

A year after Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran began rolling back its own commitments under the agreement, which gave it relief from sanctions in return for IAEA-monitored restrictions on its nuclear activities.

In its latest report, the IAEA said Iran had an estimated 274.8 kilograms (605 pounds) of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent.

That level far exceeds the 3.67 percent enrichment ceiling set by the 2015 deal, but still falls short of the 90 percent threshold required for a nuclear warhead.

Since he returned to office in January, Trump has revived his "maximum pressure" policy, imposing punishing economic sanctions against Iran.

On Thursday Trump said he is "not in a rush" to take military action against Iranian nuclear facilities, "because I think that Iran has a chance to have a great country".

Trump did not confirm a New York Times report that he had blocked an Israeli plan to strike Iranian nuclear facilities in favour of seeking a negotiated deal.

Israel did not directly comment on the report, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel would not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.

"The prime minister has led countless overt and covert actions in the battle against Iran's nuclear programme, without which Iran would today possess a nuclear arsenal," Netanyahu's office said.

There was no immediate comment from Tehran on the remarks.

- 'Conflicting positions' -

Khamenei has cautioned that while the talks with the United States had started well, they "may or may not yield results."

On Wednesday, Araghchi said Iran's enrichment of uranium was not up for discussion after Witkoff called for a halt.

Witkoff had previously demanded only that Iran return to the 3.67 percent enrichment ceiling set by the 2015 deal.

Araghchi said he hoped to start negotiations on the framework of a possible agreement, but that this required "constructive positions" from the United States.

Araghchi was in Moscow on Thursday on a "pre-planned" visit to the Tehran ally, where he met with President Vladimir Putin.

"Our regular exchanges with Russia and China have allowed us to align our positions," Araghchi said on arrival in the Russian capital.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khaled bin Salman travelled to Tehran and delivered a message from the Saudi king to Khamenei, according to the leader's official website.

During his first term, Trump attempted to forge an alliance between Israel and the Gulf Arab states against Iran.

But in 2023 Tehran and Riyadh restored ties in a Chinese-brokered rapprochement.