The foreign minister of Oman has announced that a fourth round of talks with the United States about Iran\u2019s nuclear programme had been postponed.<\/p>\n
Minister Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi made the announcement on the social media platform X on Thursday, just days before the talks were expected to begin in Rome.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor logistical reasons we are rescheduling the US Iran meeting provisionally planned for Saturday May 3rd,\u201d he wrote<\/a>. \u201cNew dates will be announced when mutually agreed.\u201d<\/p>\n Al-Busaidi had previously mediated three rounds of talks between Iran and the US. The first<\/a> took place in Oman\u2019s capital of Moscat on April 12, with a follow-up in Rome the following weekend. A third round<\/a> of negotations returned to Moscat on April 26, with the US touting \u201cprogress\u201d towards a nuclear deal.<\/p>\n But tensions between the Iranian and US governments have been simmering beneath the near-weekly meetings.<\/p>\n The administration of President Donald Trump has said its aim is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, though Tehran has long denied armament as a goal. It frames its nuclear programme as a civilian energy project.<\/p>\n The Trump White House has hinted its goals may extend further, though, to the total dismantlement of Iran\u2019s nuclear enrichment programme. In mid-April, US special envoy Steve Witkoff released a statement<\/a> saying that \u201cIran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program\u201d as part of a final deal.<\/p>\n Earlier on Thursday, before the postponement was announced, Iran accused the US of issuing \u201ccontradictory behaviour and provocative statements\u201d about the nuclear negotiations.<\/p>\n And on Wednesday, the US made a series of aggressive moves as part of its \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d campaign against Iran, heightening the already uneasy relations.<\/p>\n First, the US Department of State sanctioned<\/a> seven entities involved in the trade of Iranian oil products, on the basis that the proceeds \u201csupport its terrorist activities and proxies\u201d. Then, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth offered his own remarks, warning that Iranian support of the Houthis, a Yemen-based armed group, could result in US retaliation.<\/p>\n \u201cMessage to IRAN: We see your LETHAL support to The Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing,\u201d Hegseth wrote<\/a> on social media on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know very well what the U.S. Military is capable of \u2014 and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the heated rhetoric, Iran\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Thursday\u2019s postponement came \u201cat the request of Oman\u2019s foreign minister\u201d. Iranian spokesperson Esmail Baghaei also emphasised that his country was committed to achieving \u201ca fair and lasting agreement\u201d with the US.<\/p>\n Still, a senior official with the Iranian government told the Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity that the recent US actions were tied to the delay.<\/p>\n \u201cUS sanctions on Iran during the nuclear talks are not helping the sides to resolve the nuclear dispute through diplomacy,\u201d the official told Reuters. \u201cDepending on the US approach, the date of the next round of talks will be announced.\u201d<\/p>\n Other media reports, meanwhile, indicate that the US was not completely on board with the prospects of renewed talks in Rome this weekend.<\/p>\n An anonymous source told The Associated Press that the US \u201chad never confirmed its participation\u201d in this weekend\u2019s anticipated talks, but that further negotiations were expected \u201cin the near future\u201d.<\/p>\n Successive US administrations have sought to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. One recent effort culminated with a 2015 agreement called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).<\/p>\n The multilateral agreement, forged during the administration of US President Barack Obama, created a framework for Iran to receive relief from international sanctions, in exchange for reducing its uranium enrichment and submitting to inspections of its nuclear facilities.<\/p>\n But when Trump succeeded Obama as US president, he set into motion plans to withdraw the US from the JCPOA in 2018, causing the deal to crumble.<\/p>\n Instead, during his first term as president from 2017 to 2021, Trump pursued a campaign of \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d against Iran, a strategy he has returned to since taking office a second time in January.<\/p>\n When Trump launched a new round of US attacks against the Houthis in March, he warned<\/a> he held Iran responsible for Houthi strikes against ships in the Red Sea \u2014 and he hinted he would consider using force against that country as a result.<\/p>\n