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Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi at the Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome, Italy, on April 19, 2025. — Reuters
Key Updates
- Expert-level discussions set to commence in Oman on Wednesday.
- Lead negotiators will reconvene in Oman the following Saturday.
- No immediate remarks from the U.S. side after the discussions.
DUBAI: Iran and the United States have decided to engage experts to begin outlining a potential framework for a nuclear agreement, according to Iran’s foreign minister. This follows a second round of indirect talks after President Donald Trump’s military threat against Iran.
During their nearly four-hour meeting in Rome, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi communicated with Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, via an Omani intermediary.
President Trump, who pulled the United States out of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Tehran and other global powers in 2018, has warned of military action if a new deal is not swiftly negotiated to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Iran maintains that its nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes and has expressed a willingness to consider limited restrictions on its nuclear activities in exchange for the easing of international sanctions.
In a statement on state television following the discussions, Araqchi called the talks productive and held in a positive environment. He noted, “We achieved progress on several key principles and goals, leading to a better understanding overall.”
He further revealed that negotiations would progress to a new phase, starting with meetings at the expert level in Oman on Wednesday, where they will work on developing a groundwork for an agreement.
The primary negotiators plan to meet again in Oman next Saturday to evaluate the expert discussions and determine their alignment with the principles of a potential agreement.
Reflecting on comments from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei made last week, Araqchi stated, “It’s difficult to declare optimism. We are proceeding with caution. There’s no need for excessive pessimism either.”
There was no immediate response from the U.S. after the talks. Trump stated to reporters that his primary goal is to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, adding, “They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I desire for Iran to be a great and prosperous nation.”
Israel, a close ally of Washington, has expressed its opposition to the 2015 deal abandoned by Trump and has not ruled out the possibility of military action against Iran’s nuclear sites in the upcoming months, corroborated by an Israeli official and two other sources.
Since 2019, Iran has violated the uranium enrichment limits set by the 2015 agreement, producing stockpiles significantly exceeding what Western nations deem necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, outlined Iran’s non-negotiables, stating they will not agree to dismantle their uranium enrichment centrifuges, halt enrichment completely, or decrease their enriched uranium reserves below the limits specified in the 2015 agreement.
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