US-Iran nuclear talks ‘very positive and constructive,’ White House says
Newspaper front page headlines are seen at a kiosk in Tehran on April 12, 2025, featuring the Iran-US talks on the Iranian nuclear program, which are set to begin n Oman.
The Trump administration’s first round of negotiations with Iran, aimed at getting the US adversary to scrap its nuclear program, were “very positive and constructive,” the White House said Saturday.
Special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff was accompanied by US Ambassador to Oman Ana Escrogima for the high-stakes meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, which took place in Muscat and marks the first time during President Trump’s second term that US and Iranian officials have met face-to-face.
“The discussions were very positive and constructive, and the United States deeply thanks the Sultanate of Oman for its support of this initiative,” read a statement released by the White House.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meets with Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi in Muscat on April 12, 2025.
“Special Envoy Witkoff underscored to Dr. Araghchi that he had instructions from President Trump to resolve our two nations’ differences through dialogue and diplomacy, if that is possible,” the statement continued. “These issues are very complicated, and Special Envoy Witkoff’s direct communication today was a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome.”
Both sides agreed to meet for a second round of talks on April 19, according to the White House and Iranian officials.
Witkoff and Araghchi “briefly spoke in the presence of the Omani foreign minister” as they left the venue in Muscat, Iranian state media reported.
The US and Iranian delegations were seated in separate rooms for the majority of the two-hour-long “indirect” meeting, according to Tehran, with an Omani mediator shuttling messages back-and-forth between the two sides.
Four rounds of messages were exchanged before he finally met Witkoff in person, Araghchi said.
The White House and State Department have not acknowledged the Iranian reports and did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Ahead of the meeting, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei noted he did “not expect this round of negotiations to be lengthy.”
Qasr Al Alam Palace in the heart of Muscat
“We are giving a genuine and honest opportunity to diplomacy, so that through dialogue, we can move forward on the nuclear issue on one hand, and more importantly for us, the lifting of sanctions,” Baghaei said.
“The objective of the Islamic Republic of Iran is very clear — we have only one goal, and that is to safeguard Iran’s national interests,” he added.
Witkoff, who arrived in Oman a day after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow as part of negotiations for a cease-fire in the war in Ukraine, was adamant ahead of the Iran talks that the Trump administration will not allow Islamic Republic to develop a nuclear weapon
“I think our position begins with dismantlement of your program. That is our position today,” Witkoff told the Wall Street Journal Friday, explaining what he planned on conveying to Iranian officials.
The special envoy described the provocative action of Iran developing a nuclear weapon as a “red line” the Trump administration would not tolerate, while noting the US is willing to “find other ways to find compromise between the two countries.”
The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog discovered in February that Iran was stockpiling enriched uranium just below the threshold needed to produce a nuclear weapon.
“The significantly increased production and accumulation of high enriched uranium by Iran, the only non-nuclear weapon State to produce such nuclear material, is of serious concern,” read the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iran’s nuclear program.
Tehran had also refused to grant the IAEA’s request to bring in additional inspectors, the report noted.
Araghchi and al-Busaidi met prior to
negotiations with U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff in Muscat, Oman,
Saturday, April 12, 2025. Iran maintains it is not enriching uranium to build a weapon and has long refused calls to dismantle its nuclear program.
“Trump wants a new deal: End Iran’s regional influence, dismantle its nuclear program and halt its missile work. These are unacceptable to Tehran,” one senior Iranian official said earlier this week.
“Our nuclear program cannot be dismantled,” the officials added.
Saturday’s meeting was “about trust building,” Witkoff said, and not necessarily making significant progress on a new Iran nuclear deal.
“It is about talking about why it is so important for us to get to a deal, not the exact terms of the deal,” the Trump administration official told the WSJ, noting any agreement would need to have substantial verification measures to make sure Iran isn’t working toward building a nuclear weapon.
It will be up to Trump to determine how to proceed if Iran balks at paring back its nuclear program, Witkoff noted.
2 comments:
My guess, for what that is worth to you, is that the goat fuckers will hang tough and hope that Trump is bluffing and the Israelis will not act without the U.S. I think that is a bad bet, but you never know.
Iran wants cash. Then they would lie.
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