US, Iran to resume nuclear talks in Oman

The United States and Iran are scheduled to continue their indirect nuclear negotiations on Sunday in Muscat, the capital of Oman.

It will be the fourth round of dialogue aimed at addressing concerns over Tehran’s nuclear activities. The talks come amid growing regional tensions and accelerated Iranian uranium enrichment, which is inching closer to weapons-grade levels.

Originally intended to take place in Rome on May 3, the meeting was postponed due to logistical hurdles, according to Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi. Oman, which has historically acted as an intermediary in U.S.-Iran discussions, confirmed the new date and venue. Omani officials emphasized their neutral role and expressed hope that both parties would “exercise maximum flexibility.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that progress is being made in the discussions, but maintained that the Islamic Republic’s fundamental positions remain unchanged.

“If the goal of the negotiations is to deprive Iran of its nuclear rights, I state clearly that Iran will not back down from any of its rights,”
he said during a visit to Doha on Saturday, where he held talks with Qatari leaders ahead of the meeting. Araghchi also reiterated that Iran’s nuclear advancements were reversible—but only if U.S. sanctions were first lifted, a stance Washington rejects.

Leading the U.S. delegation is President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has laid out a hardline position and warned that the outcome of Sunday’s talks will determine whether negotiations continue.

“We’ve stated our position: The Iranians cannot have a bomb. And they have stated back that they don’t want one. So we’re going to for the purposes of this discussion accept them at their word that that’s actually how they feel. If that’s how they feel, then their enrichment facilities have to be dismantled. They cannot have centrifuges. They have to downblend all of their fuel that they have there, send it to a faraway place and they have to convert to a civil program if they want to run a civil program,” he said.