Iran cites progress in US nuclear talks with more meetings set

Arsalan Shahla and Donato Paolo Mancini, Bloomberg News on Apr 19, 2025

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Iran’s foreign minister said his country has a “better understanding” with the U.S. on a range of principles after talks Saturday on Tehran’s nuclear program, with negotiations to continue next week.

“It was a good session, and the negotiations are moving forward,” Abbas Araghchi told Iran’s state TV on the Oman-mediated talks in Rome. “This time, we managed to reach a better understanding on a number of principles and objectives.”

The discussions, which lasted more than three hours, will resume Wednesday in Oman with a focus on technical details, Araghchi said. Oman hosted the first round of talks a week ago in its capital, Muscat.

He added that the delegations, led by himself and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, will reconvene in Muscat on April 26 to review progress, and that Iran should then be in a “better position” to assess its prospects.

Separately, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei called the talks “useful” and held in a constructive atmosphere. He told state TV from Rome that Tehran is prepared to address concerns about its nuclear program in good faith, and in return, expects credible guarantees that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration will effectively lift crippling sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Earlier, Baghaei had said Iran was engaging in the talks “with open eyes” and a “commitment to diplomacy.”

Although Iran and the U.S. also termed the first round of talks constructive, they later clashed over respective demands and the limits of a potential deal, along with an apparent disagreement on where the talks should take place.

Witkoff on April 15 said Iran must dismantle its uranium-enrichment program, hours after he’d said the country could continue low-level enrichment for civilian use. Iran criticized the shift, reiterating that its enrichment capability was nonnegotiable.

Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq will visit Moscow to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said earlier. Iran’s Araghchi met with Putin on Thursday to discuss the nuclear negotiations.

Saturday’s talks were also preceded by a visit to Tehran by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi, who warned that time was running out for a resolution to the yearslong standoff.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani met with Grossi and also with his Iranian counterpart on Saturday morning.

Araghchi stated that Tehran is seeking a reasonable agreement and aims to eliminate any doubts about the peaceful nature of its nuclear program, according to a foreign ministry readout.

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(With assistance from Henry Meyer.)