U.S. and Iranian officials on Saturday held a first round of “constructive” talks over Tehran’s rapidly progressing nuclear program in Oman, according to the White House.
Steve Witkoff, the U.S. Mideast envoy, spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Muscat at a meeting hosted by Omani Foreign Minister Said Badr, the first time the two nations have held talks since the Obama administration.
“The discussions were very positive and constructive, and the United States deeply thanks the Sultanate of Oman for its support of this initiative,” the White House said in a statement.
In 2018, during his first term in office, President Donald Trump pulled out of an existing 2015 nuclear deal with Iran describing it as “one-sided” at the time.
“These issues are very complicated,” the White House statement said, adding that the meeting was “a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Friday said that president’s “ultimate objective is to ensure that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon.”
Leavitt said while the president believes in diplomacy and direct talks in order to achieve that goal, but if they don’t “agree to President’s Trump’s demand, there will be all hell to pay.”
Araghchi described the talk as being conducted in an “atmosphere of mutual respect” in a post on X. The two sides have agreed to meet again next Saturday.