Envoys from Iran and the US began negotiations Saturday in Oman over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program since President Trump returned to the White House, the AP reports. No overall agreement is immediately likely, but the stakes of the negotiations couldn't be higher for the two nations closing in on half a century of enmity. Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran's nuclear program if a deal isn't reached, per Al Jazeera. Iranian officials increasingly warn they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
Flight-tracking data analyzed by the AP showed a private jet from St. Petersburg, Russia, arrived in Oman on Saturday morning, and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff had just met Russian President Vladimir Putin there on Friday. Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry released footage of Tehran's top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, meeting with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported that Araghchi provided Iran's "stance and key points for the talks to be conveyed to the US side." IRNA's report suggested the meeting would be held later Saturday, and AP journalists saw a convoy believed to be carrying Witkoff leave the Omani Foreign Ministry and then speed off into the outskirts of Muscat. The convoy went into a compound and a few minutes later, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei wrote on the social platform X that the "indirect talks" had begun.
Araghchi earlier spoke to Iranian journalists: "If there is sufficient will on both sides, we will decide on a timetable. But it is still too early to talk about that," Araghchi said, in an audio clip published by IRNA. "What is clear now is that the negotiations are indirect, and in our view only on the nuclear issue, and will be conducted with the necessary will to reach an agreement that is on an equal footing and leads to securing the national interests of the Iranian people." But both Trump and Witkoff have described the talks as being "direct." Witkoff told the
Wall Street Journal: "Where our red line will be, there can't be weaponization of [Iran's] nuclear capability."
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