After technical talks, senior negotiators expected to reunite on April 26, according to Iran\u2019s foreign ministry.<\/p>\n
Iran and the United States have completed a second round of indirect nuclear negotiations, which Iran\u2019s foreign minister has described as \u201cconstructive\u201d and moving forward with further meetings planned in the coming week.<\/p>\n
Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held four hours of indirect talks<\/a> at Oman\u2019s embassy in the Italian capital, Rome, on Saturday, according to Araghchi.<\/p>\n \u201cWe succeeded in reaching a better understanding on certain principles and goals,\u201d the diplomat was quoted by the semiofficial Tasnim news agency as saying. \u201cThe negotiations were conducted in a constructive atmosphere and are progressing.\u201d<\/p>\n There has been no readout yet of the meeting from the US side.<\/p>\n The delegations \u2013 led by Araghchi and Witkoff, a billionaire real estate executive whom US President Donald Trump has dispatched on numerous foreign policy missions<\/a> \u2013 stayed in separate rooms in the embassy as Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi shuttled messages between them, according to Iranian officials.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the parties will hold more indirect, technical-level talks in the coming days, followed by another meeting with senior officials on April 26.<\/p>\n There were useful indirect talks today between Iran and the United States conducted by Oman Foreign Minister in a constructive atmosphere. <\/p>\n The two sides agreed to continue the indirect talks in few days at technical level to be followed by another round at their own level on\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) April 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cI hope that after next week\u2019s technical sessions, we\u2019ll be in a better position,\u201d Araghchi said, according to Tasnim. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason for excessive optimism or pessimism.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Negotiations to pick up\u2019<\/p>\n Al Jazeera\u2019s James Bays, reporting near the Omani diplomatic compound in Rome, said the Iranian response was \u201cvery positive\u201d for a delegation that \u201chad seemed pretty negative going into the talks\u201d.<\/p>\n Next week\u2019s planned talks mean \u201cthe pace of negotiations is going to be picked up\u201d, Bays said.<\/p>\n The latest meeting comes a week after Iran and the US came together in Muscat<\/a> for their first high-level discussions since Trump in 2018 unilaterally abandoned a landmark nuclear accord signed and brokered by world powers in 2015.<\/p>\n The Iranians \u201care looking for a kind of consistency when it comes to the current talks\u201d, Al Jazeera\u2019s Tohid Asadi reported from Tehran.<\/p>\n Will US accept civilian nuclear programme?<\/p>\n Western governments, including the US, have long accused Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons \u2013 an allegation Tehran has denied, insisting its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful civilian use. On Wednesday, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said Iran was \u201cnot far\u201d from possessing a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n Grossi was also in Rome on Saturday meeting Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. Grossi\u2019s nuclear watchdog would likely be central in verifying compliance by Iran should a deal be reached, as it did with the 2015 accord.<\/p>\n The US and Iran have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran\u2019s 1979 Islamic Revolution. After returning to office in January, Trump revived his \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d sanctions campaign against Tehran, but in March, he sent a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei calling for renewed negotiations \u2013 while warning of military consequences if diplomacy fails.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not in a rush\u201d to use force, Trump said on Thursday. \u201cI think Iran wants to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n On Friday, Araghchi said the US showed \u201ca degree of seriousness\u201d during the first round of talks but questioned Washington\u2019s \u201cintentions and motivations\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bays said the heart of the dispute remains whether Iran may maintain a civilian nuclear programme \u2013 or whether, as hardliners in Washington insist, it must dismantle its nuclear programme entirely.<\/p>\n \u201cAll they\u2019ve been talking about last week in Muscat and here in Rome is a framework for the discussions and what they want to achieve,\u201d Bays said. \u201cThey have not been discussing the nuclear detail, \u2026 and the devil is in the detail on these things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n