“In Friendly Atmosphere”: US-Iran nuclear talks to resume next Saturday

“In Friendly Atmosphere”: US-Iran nuclear talks to resume next Saturday
2025-04-12 16:42

Shafaq News/ Oman's Foreign Minister, Badr Al-Busaidi, confirmed on Saturday that the nuclear negotiations between the US and Iranian delegations in Muscat were cordial, with both sides agreeing to resume discussions next week.

The talks, attended by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff, and mediated by Oman, “took place in a friendly atmosphere conducive to bridging viewpoints and ultimately achieving regional and global peace, security and stability," Al-Busaidi wrote on X.

The FM also expressed his country's commitment to “put further efforts to assist in arriving at this goal.”

Speaking with Iranian state television, Araghchi said that the next round of negotiations with the US will take place Saturday, April 19, describing them as “constructive.” He confirmed that four rounds of indirect messages were exchanged between the two countries.

“Neither we nor the other side are interested in fruitless negotiations — so-called ‘talks for the sake of talks,’ wasting time, or drawn-out, exhausting negotiations,” he said. “Both sides, including the Americans, have said that their goal is also to reach an agreement in the shortest possible time. However, that will certainly not be an easy task.”

In a post on his Telegram channel, he wrote, "After the end of more than 2-1/2 hours of indirect talks, the heads of the Iranian and American delegations spoke for a few minutes in the presence of the Omani foreign minister as they left the talks.”

The US has yet to comment on the discussions.

Saturday's exchanges were indirect, as Iran preferred, rather than the face-to-face discussions that Trump had called for. "This is a beginning. So it is normal at this stage for the two sides to present to each other their fundamental positions through the Omani intermediary," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said.

Any signs of progress could help ease tensions in a region that has been in turmoil since 2023, with wars in Gaza and Lebanon, missile exchanges between Iran and Israel, Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, and the collapse of the government in Syria.

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