Iran and US Begin High-Stakes Talks Amid Regional Tensions
4/12/2025 4:50:05 PM
Iran and the United States began high-level talks in Oman on Saturday aimed at jump-starting negotiations over Tehran's fast-advancing nuclear programme, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening military action if there is no deal.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was leading Iran's delegation while the talks on the U.S. side - the first during Trump's tenure in the White House - were being handled by his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
"Indirect talks between Iran and the United States with the mediation of the Omani foreign minister have started," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei posted on X.
Each delegation had its separate room and would exchange messages via Oman's foreign minister, Baghaei said.
"The focus of the talks will be de-escalating regional tensions, prisoner exchanges and limited agreements to ease sanctions (against Iran) in exchange for controlling Iran's nuclear programme," an Omani source told Reuters.
Oman has long been an intermediary between Western powers and Iran, having brokered the release of several foreign citizens and dual nationals held by the Islamic Republic.
Tehran approached the talks warily, sceptical they could yield a deal and suspicious of Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to bomb Iran if it does not halt its escalating uranium enrichment programme - seen by the West as a possible pathway to nuclear weapons.
While each side has talked up the chances of some progress, they remain far apart on a dispute that has rumbled on for more than two decades and have not agreed on whether the talks will be face-to-face, as Trump demands, or indirect, as Iran wants.
Ahead of the start of the talks - the first between Iran and a Trump administration, including his first term in 2017-21 - Araqchi met with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi in Muscat to present Tehran's "key points and positions to be conveyed to the U.S. side", Iranian state media reported.
Signs of progress could help cool tensions in a region aflame since 2023 with wars in Gaza and Lebanon, missile fire between Iran and Israel, Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping and the overthrow of the government in Syria.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was leading Iran's delegation while the talks on the U.S. side - the first during Trump's tenure in the White House - were being handled by his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
"Indirect talks between Iran and the United States with the mediation of the Omani foreign minister have started," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei posted on X.
Each delegation had its separate room and would exchange messages via Oman's foreign minister, Baghaei said.
"The focus of the talks will be de-escalating regional tensions, prisoner exchanges and limited agreements to ease sanctions (against Iran) in exchange for controlling Iran's nuclear programme," an Omani source told Reuters.
Oman has long been an intermediary between Western powers and Iran, having brokered the release of several foreign citizens and dual nationals held by the Islamic Republic.
Tehran approached the talks warily, sceptical they could yield a deal and suspicious of Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to bomb Iran if it does not halt its escalating uranium enrichment programme - seen by the West as a possible pathway to nuclear weapons.
While each side has talked up the chances of some progress, they remain far apart on a dispute that has rumbled on for more than two decades and have not agreed on whether the talks will be face-to-face, as Trump demands, or indirect, as Iran wants.
Ahead of the start of the talks - the first between Iran and a Trump administration, including his first term in 2017-21 - Araqchi met with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi in Muscat to present Tehran's "key points and positions to be conveyed to the U.S. side", Iranian state media reported.
Signs of progress could help cool tensions in a region aflame since 2023 with wars in Gaza and Lebanon, missile fire between Iran and Israel, Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping and the overthrow of the government in Syria.