The United States and Iran made progress in talks over Tehran’s nuclear program on Thursday, mediator Oman said, but hours of negotiation ended with no sign of a breakthrough that could avert potential U.S. strikes amid a massive military buildup.
The two sides plan to resume negotiations soon after consultations in their countries’ capitals, with technical-level discussions scheduled to take place next week in Vienna, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi said in a post on X after the day’s meetings in Switzerland.
Badr Albusaidi will hold talks with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and other U.S. officials in Washington on Friday, MS NOW reported late on Thursday. Neither the White House nor Oman’s embassy in Washington immediately responded to requests for comment.
No Deal
Any substantial move toward an elusive agreement between longtime foes Washington and Tehran could reduce the imminent prospects for U.S President Donald Trump to carry out a threatened attack on Iran that many fear could escalate into a wider war.
But Tuesday’s indirect talks wrapped up without a deal, still leaving the region on edge.
“We have finished the day after significant progress in the negotiation between the United States and Iran,” Badr Albusaidi said.
But with many analysts seeing the latest diplomacy as the last chance before Trump could decide to go to war, Badr Albusaidi provided no details and stopped short of saying the two sides had overcome their biggest stumbling blocks to a deal.
Describing the talks as some of the most serious that Iran has had with the U.S., Araqchi told Iranian state television: “We reached agreement on some issues, and there are differences regarding some other issues.”
“It was decided that the next round of negotiations will take place soon, in less than a week,” he said. The Iranians, he added, had clearly expressed their demand for lifting of U.S. sanctions, which Washington has long insisted will only come after deep concessions from Tehran.
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. negotiating team on the outcome of the talks. But Axios quoted a senior U.S. official as saying the Geneva negotiations were “positive.”
The discussions about the decades-long dispute over Iran’s nuclear work come as fears grow of a Middle East conflagration. Trump has repeatedly threatened action if there is no deal, and the U.S. military has amassed its forces in waters near the Islamic Republic.
Intense Talks
A senior Iranian official told Reuters earlier on Thursday that the U.S. and Iran could reach a framework for a deal if Washington separated “nuclear and non-nuclear issues.”
The Trump administration has insisted that Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for armed groups in the region must be part of the negotiations.
After the morning session, Badr Albusaidi said the two sides had exchanged “creative and positive ideas”.
But a senior Iranian official said at the time that some gaps still had to be narrowed.
Washington, which believes Tehran seeks the ability to build a nuclear bomb, wants Iran to give up all uranium enrichment, a process that makes fuel for atomic power plants but that can also yield material for a warhead.
(with inputs from Reuters)
