The third round of negotiations between Iran and the U.S. nuclear activity in Tehran was held for hours on Saturday for indirect negotiations, partly written and partly written, between senior officials of both sides and a team of technical experts.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with Iran's state television that the talks were “very serious” and focused on the details of the potential agreement. He said there was still a disagreement between Tehran and Washington, but he was “cautiously optimistic that we can make progress.”
Mr. Aragic said the talks will continue mediation talks with Oman next Saturday, including President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and a team of experts.
“The atmosphere of negotiations is very serious and productive,” he said. “We got rid of some of the bigger issues, but that doesn’t mean we’ve addressed all the differences.”
“We have a disagreement on the size of the matter, but there will be discussions at the head of the week to reduce our differences,” he added.
A senior U.S. official said the next round of talks will be promoted in Europe, Oman. The official said the negotiations lasted four hours and called them productive.
“I think we will reach an agreement with Iran,” Mr. Trump predicted in an interview with Time magazine published on Friday. Mr. Trump abandoned his previous nuclear deal with Iran during his first term in 2018, saying it was a flawed deal.
Negotiations have the potential to reshape regional and global security by reducing U.S. support for Israel’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities and preventing Iran’s nuclear weapons from producing them. A deal could also open up the U.S. economic and political landscape to foreign investors by eased U.S. sanctions and opening up the U.S. economy and political landscape.
What happened on Saturday?
Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump's Middle East envoy; Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi; a team of technical experts from both sides encountered mediation in the Sultanate, the Gulf of Oman. Iranian state media reported that the negotiations began at noon.
This round includes “expert talks” of nut bolts that bring together nuclear and financial teams from both sides to provide technical details such as monitoring Iran’s nuclear facilities, its uranium enrichment levels and what will happen to its highly abundant uranium inventory.,,,,, and relax sanctions.
Mr. Trump himself defined the goal of the negotiations as preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. However, his administration officials have sent mixed information about what this means.
This target will not address Israel's concerns about Iran's advanced missile program, its support for agent militias in the Middle East and its hostility to Israel.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai said on Saturday that the country's defense capabilities and missile capabilities “is not and will not be raised in indirect negotiations with the United States.”
What are the risks?
A new nuclear deal could delay or avoid greater conflict between Iran and Israel and the United States. Israel and Iran have launched direct attacks since the beginning of the Gaza War in 2023.
Last week, the New York Times reported that Israel planned to attack Iran's nuclear site immediately next month, but Mr. Trump waved, who wanted to reach a deal with Tehran.
Mr. Trump said in his time interview that he did not stop the Israeli attack.
“But I'm not comfortable with them because I think we can reach a deal without an attack. I hope we can.” “We may have to attack because Iran will have no nuclear weapons.”
Iran has been enriching uranium to around 60%, only under the level required to produce weapons. According to the UNICA's nuclear regulator, if weaponization is chosen, it has accumulated enough to make several bombs.
Iran said its nuclear program was for peaceful purposes and the International Atomic Energy Agency said it had not found any signs of weaponization.
Iran has said it will retaliate violently against its nuclear facilities if it is attacked and considers keeping the UN Treaty in the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Iran's economy and its future for 90 million people are also on this line.
Years of sanctions have caused long-term inflation – economic mismanagement and intensified corruption. Now, many Iranians say they feel trapped in a spiral decline and hope that the U.S.-Iran deal will help.
What happened to the previous conversation?
The first round of nuclear negotiations was held in Oman two weeks ago, followed by the second round in Rome last weekend.
Both sides say the negotiations are constructive and they are moving in the right direction.
Iranian officials said they are willing to reduce the level of enrichment stipulated in the nuclear deal with the Obama administration, 3.67%, around the levels needed to produce fuel for nuclear power plants.
What are the sticky points?
The question of whether Iran will continue to enrich uranium has divided Mr. Trump's advisers.
Mr. Vikov described a possible agreement that would allow Iran to generate fuel for energy as well as to monitor the low levels of enriched uranium required.
But in a podcast interview last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that Iran could import rich uranium like other countries without having to enrich uranium at home and without having to enrich uranium at home.
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said the United States is seeking to completely remove Iran's nuclear program, which Iran believes is a non-starter.
Foreign Minister Araghchi said Iran invited the United States to invest in its nuclear program and helped build more nuclear reactors as additional security measures.
“The trillion-dollar opportunities our economy brings may be open to U.S. businesses,” Aragic said in a speech shared on social media. “This includes companies that can help us generate electricity from non-hydrogen sources.”
Agreeing to limit how much uranium Iran can have and to what extent Mr Trump can criticize him for replicating only key elements of the Obama-era nuclear deal.
Some possible measures to improve the old deal may include stricter monitoring of Iran's nuclear activities, joint ventures operating nuclear facilities and making Iran's guarantees permanent, analysts said.
How did we get here?
Both sides participated in the negotiations with deep distrust.
Previous deals between Iran and the United States and other world powers were called the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan.
It took appropriate measures to prevent Iran from weaponizing Iran's nuclear program by limiting its abundance to 3.5%, thereby transferring stocks of enriched uranium to Russia and allowing inspections by surveillance cameras and IAEA
European companies withdraw from Iran, banks no longer cooperate with Iran, fearing US sanctions.
About a year after the deal was concluded, Iran saw no economic interest, got rid of its obligations and raised its uranium enrichment level, gradually reaching 60%.
What's next?
So far, both sides seem to have political will to reach a new agreement and plans to continue the discussion.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had banned negotiations with Mr. Trump, authorized the negotiations and said the negotiation team had his support.
But the deal doesn't have to be around the corner.
Negotiations may still collapse on a technical level, the most challenging part of previous negotiations.
When permanent transactions are released, temporary transactions can also be reached to freeze the enrichment of uranium.
Lara Jakes and David E. Sanger Contribution report.
