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Nuclear negotiations between US and Iran commence in Muscat, Oman

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Sunday, April 20, 2025

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On Saturday, April 12, the first round of talks between an Iranian delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and an American delegation led by U.S. Special Envoy to West Asia Steve Witkoff took place in Muscat, capital of Oman, with the delegations sitting in two separate halls for two and a half hours as the Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi passed written notes as the chosen method of communication during the indirect talks. The Iranian foreign minister said that “about four rounds of exchanges of messages” between the two delegations took place. On Wednesday, Iran announced that the next round of talks with the USA - scheduled for April 19 - would be held in Rome.

The talks concern Iranian nuclear programme and American sanctions against Iran and are a direct consequence of the decision by the USA President Donald Trump during his first term to unilaterally withdraw in 2018 from The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; Persian: برنامه جامع اقدام مشترک, romanized: barnāmeye jāme'e eqdāme moshtarak (برجام, BARJAM)) [also known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal] - the earlier agreement to limit the Iranian nuclear program in return for sanctions relief and other provisions that was finalized in Vienna on July 14, 2015, between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations S.C.—China, France, Russia, the U.K., U.S.—plus Germany) together with the European Union.

According to the provisions of the 2015 deal, Iran agreed to enrich uranium only up to 3.67% purity for the next 15 years. On January 5, 2020, Iran declared that it would no longer abide by the deal's limitations but would continue to coordinate with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In February 2025, the IAEA nuclear watchdog reported that Iran had [numbers approximated in tonne units, instead of original kg units, for readability] around 3t of uranium enriched up to 2% U-235 (+0.7 t since the previous quarterly report), over 3t of uranium enriched up to 5% U-235 (+1t), over 0.5t of uranium enriched up to 20% U-235 (–0.2t); and ~0.25t of uranium enriched up to 60% U-235 (+92.5 kg).

Hours before the talks were due to begin, Trump told reporters on board Air Force One that he wants Iran “to be a wonderful, great, happy country. But they can’t have a nuclear weapon.” Witkoff had emphasised that he had instructions to resolve the "differences through dialogue and diplomacy, if that is possible". Araghchi had said ahead of the discussions that his country wanted a "fair agreement". Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country is not seeking war, nor a nuclear bomb.

Representatives of both countries described the meeting as "constructive" and confirmed a second round of discussions will take place next week, April 19, and while the location has been changed to Rome for the second round of talks, they will continue to take place under Omani intermediation.

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