Updated April 12, 2025 at 11:15 AM ET
The U.S. and Iran on Saturday launched a new effort to negotiate a deal on Iran's nuclear program, and agreed to hold additional talks in a week.
The discussions in Oman's capital Muscat lasted more than two hours and were mediated by Oman. The White House described the talks as "positive and constructive," and said the goal is to "resolve our two nations' differences through dialogue and diplomacy, if that is possible."
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a separate statement that the two sides exchanged positions on Iran's nuclear program and the possibility of lifting sanctions on Iran — the two critical issues in the negotiations.
Araghchi did not provide details on the substance of the meeting. But he said at the end of the "indirect talks," he spoke for a few minutes with the head of the American delegation, Steve Witkoff, President Trump's Middle East envoy.
The Iranians had been referring to this meeting as indirect talks in the run up, while the Trump administration has been calling them direct negotiations. Araghchi's statement suggested they worked out an arrangement for the discussions that satisfied both sides.
A new effort to resolve the nuclear issue
Trump's decision to enter nuclear negotiations with Iran marks a reversal from his first term when he pulled out of an existing nuclear deal with Iran in 2018 and pursued a campaign of "maximum pressure" built on sanctions and other punitive measures. Even as the U.S. enters the talks, Trump repeatedly suggests that he could resort to force if the negotiations don't succeed.
"We face a significant wall of mistrust and harbor serious doubts about the sincerity of intentions," Araghchi wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post this week.
Still, both sides also have motivations to reach an agreement.
Trump says he wants to avoid endless conflict in the Middle East, and a deal with Iran would ease tensions.
Iran is looking for relief at a moment when it appears increasingly vulnerable. The economy has been crippled by decades of sanctions. Iran's air defenses were substantially weakened in missile exchanges last year with Israel. And Iran's regional proxies suffered major setbacks in wars with Israel, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
"I think there is an opportunity as long as you can get the optics of this right," said Alex Vatanka, an Iran expert at the Middle East Institute in Washington. "President Trump can declare victory and Iran can get serious sanctions relief."
Regional tensions abound
The talks come as the Middle East is roiling with several conflicts. They include a U.S. bombing campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, a group backed by Iran. The U.S. has been striking Yemen daily for the past month, and has moved considerable firepower into the region.
The presence of an American aircraft carrier and powerful B-2 bombers is also seen as a warning to nearby Iran. Most analysts believe Trump is unlikely to resort to force against Iran at this juncture, pointing to his decision to launch negotiations. But he seems to be leaving that option open.
"I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious. And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with," Trump said this week. He added: "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and if the talks aren't successful, I actually think it'll be a very bad day for Iran."
Trump's withdrawal from the 2015 deal
The U.S. and Iran, along with several European nations, reached a nuclear deal in 2015, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Iran was allowed to enrich uranium to low levels that could be used for civilian nuclear power, but not to high levels that could be used to make a nuclear bomb.
Iran also agreed to international inspections and pledged never to build a weapon. In return, Iran received limited sanctions relief.
But Trump argued that then-President Barack Obama negotiated a bad deal for the U.S. Trump unilaterally pulled the U.S. out of the agreement despite a broad international consensus that Iran was abiding by the terms.
Iran has since enriched uranium to a much higher level — 60 percent purity — which it could ramp up to weapons grade — 90 percent purity — likely in a matter of weeks, according to nuclear experts.
Trump's sanctions campaign during his first term hobbled Iran's economy and further isolated it internationally. Yet Iran's Islamic leaders remained in power and steadily moved ahead with the nuclear program.
Scope of the deal
One key question is how narrow or broad a proposed deal would be.
Iran is looking to keep the talks limited to nuclear issues. However, Trump aides have talked about a much wider arrangement that would include completely dismantling Iran's nuclear program, addressing Iran's arsenal of missiles and ending Iran's support of proxy forces in the region.
The wider the scope, the harder it will be to reach an agreement, said Vatanka.
"There is a fear in the mind of [Iranian leader Ayatollah] Ali Khamenei that when the Americans start negotiating, they'll start with one issue, but then they will introduce a lot of other issues," he said. "So by the time you're done, you've actually given the whole store away, as opposed to just putting some brakes on your nuclear program."
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