Washington Says Set for Direct Nuclear Talks; Tehran Says They Will Be Indirect

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U.S. & Iranian flags.

On Monday, 7 April 2025, President Donald Trump made a surprising announcement that the United States and Iran were about to begin direct talks on Tehran's nuclear programme, but Iran's foreign minister stated that the talks in Oman would be indirect.

In a further indication of the rocky path to a deal between the two geopolitical adversaries, President Trump gave a harsh warning that if the talks failed, "Iran is going to be in great danger."

Iran has denied the US President's demands in recent weeks to directly talk about its nuclear programme, and it appeared to be keeping that position on Monday.

"We're having direct talks with Iran, and they've started. It'll go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting, and we'll see what can happen," President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"And I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable," he said. He added that Saturday's talks with Iran would be at a very high level, without elaborating. He declined to say where the talks would take place but held out the possibility that a deal could be reached.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi posted on X that indirect high-level talks would be held in Oman, adding, "It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America's court."

On Tuesday, Iran's state media said the talks would be led by Araqchi and U.S. Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff, with the intermediation of Oman's foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi.

During former President Joe Biden's term, the U.S. and Iran undertook indirect negotiations that yielded little, to no progress. The last known direct negotiations between the two governments occurred under then-President Barack Obama, who oversaw the 2015 international nuclear deal, which President Trump eventually walked out of.



PUKMEDIA