MUSCAT, Oman (AP) — Iran and the US will maintain extra negotiations subsequent week over Tehran’s quickly advancing nuclear program, Iranian state tv reported Saturday on the finish of the primary spherical of talks between the 2 nations since President Donald Trump returned to the White Home.

Iran’s state-run broadcaster revealed that U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Overseas Minister Abbas Araghchi “briefly spoke” collectively — the primary time the 2 nations have executed that because the Obama administration.

Tehran’s declaration that the 2 sides spoke face-to-face — even when briefly — suggests the negotiations went properly even to Iranian state TV, which lengthy has been managed by hard-liners.

In an announcement launched Saturday afternoon, the White Home described the discussions as “very optimistic and constructive,” whereas conceding the problems that must be resolved “are very difficult.”

“Particular Envoy Witkoff’s direct communication right now was a step ahead in attaining a mutually useful end result,” the White Home mentioned.

Trump advised reporters on Air Pressure One on Saturday whereas flying to Miami for a UFC occasion that the talks are “going okay.”

“I can’t let you know as a result of nothing issues till you get it executed so I don’t like speaking about it but it surely’s going okay. The Iran state of affairs goes fairly good, I believe,” he mentioned.

The subsequent spherical of talks will happen Saturday, April 19, based on the Iranian and American statements.

This primary spherical of talks started at round 3:30 p.m. native. The 2 sides spoke for over two hours at a location within the outskirts of Muscat, Oman’s capital, ending the talks round 5:50 p.m. native time. The convoy believed to be carrying Witkoff returned to Muscat earlier than disappearing into site visitors round a neighborhood that’s dwelling to the U.S. Embassy.

The stakes of the negotiations couldn’t be larger for the 2 nations closing in on half a century of enmity. Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes focusing on Iran’s nuclear program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officers more and more warn that they might pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to close weapons-grade ranges.

Talks happened Saturday afternoon in Oman

Related Press journalists noticed a convoy believed to be carrying Witkoff go away the Omani Overseas Ministry on Saturday afternoon after which velocity off into the outskirts of Muscat. The convoy went right into a compound and some minutes later, Iranian Overseas Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei wrote on the social platform X that the “oblique talks” had begun.

Afterward, Araghchi described the assembly as constructive to Iranian state TV, with 4 rounds of messages exchanged throughout the oblique portion.

“Neither we nor the opposite facet are all in favour of fruitless negotiations — so-called ‘talks for the sake of talks,’ losing time, or drawn-out, exhausting negotiations,” he mentioned. “Each side, together with the Individuals, have mentioned that their aim can be to achieve an settlement within the shortest doable time. Nevertheless, that can actually not be a simple process.”

That the 2 males spoke face-to-face happy a requirement of the Individuals. Trump and Witkoff each had described the talks as being “direct.”

“I believe our place begins with dismantlement of your program. That’s our place right now,” Witkoff advised The Wall Road Journal earlier than his journey. “That doesn’t imply, by the best way, that on the margin we’re not going to seek out different methods to seek out compromise between the 2 nations.”

He added: “The place our pink line might be, there can’t be weaponization of your nuclear functionality.”

Araghchi, nevertheless, sought to downplay the encounter as “a short preliminary dialog, greetings and well mannered exchanges” — prone to keep away from drawing the anger of hard-liners in Iran.

Badr al-Busaidi, Oman’s international minister who shuttled between the 2 sides, mentioned the nations have a “shared purpose of concluding a good and binding settlement.”

“I want to thank my two colleagues for this engagement, which happened in a pleasant ambiance conducive to bridging viewpoints and in the end attaining regional and international peace, safety and stability,” al-Busaidi wrote on X. “We are going to proceed to work collectively and put additional efforts to help in arriving at this aim.”

Sanctions reduction and enrichment stay high points

Whereas the U.S. facet can provide sanctions reduction for Iran’s beleaguered economic system, it stays unclear simply how a lot Iran might be keen to concede. Underneath the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran may solely keep a small stockpile of uranium enriched to three.67%. In the present day, Tehran’s stockpile may permit it to construct a number of nuclear weapons if it so chooses and it has some materials enriched as much as 60%, a brief, technical step away from weapons-grade ranges. Judging from negotiations since Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the deal in 2018, Iran will doubtless ask to maintain enriching uranium as much as no less than 20%.

One factor it received’t do is surrender its program totally. That makes the proposal of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a so-called Libyan answer — “you go in, blow up the services, dismantle all of the gear, beneath American supervision, American execution” — unworkable.

Iranians together with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have held up what in the end occurred to the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was killed along with his personal gun by rebels within the nation’s 2011 Arab Spring rebellion, as a warning about what can occur whenever you belief the US.

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Related Press author Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

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