Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday stated that major differences continue to exist between Tehran and Washington after the third round of nuclear talks in Muscat, Oman.
“There are still disagreements on both major issues and finer details,” Araghchi said to Iranian state TV, though he added that this round of talks was “much more serious” than the earlier ones.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who is mediating, said that negotiations would resume next week, with a tentative high-level meeting planned for May 3. “Core principles, goals, and technical issues were discussed today,” Albusaidi posted on X.
Following hours of indirect talks, Iranian state TV reported that both sides would head back to their capitals for consultations before returning to negotiations.
The negotiations are to restrict Iran’s nuclear program in return for a lifting of the brutal U.S. sanctions that have pounded Iran’s economy over the past several decades. Diplomatic tensions continued, particularly since then-President Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord in 2018, igniting several years of worsening hostilities.
Trump, visiting Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis, renewed his call for a new nuclear agreement but insisted that military force was still possible if diplomacy collapsed. In contrast, Iranian authorities continue to threaten that they will seek nuclear bombs if talks collapse, as the country’s reserves of enriched uranium approach weapons grade.
The wider Middle East continues to be unstable, further strained by the Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza, and adding urgency to the search for a resolution to Iran’s nuclear impasse.
