The brief moment that marked a win for Trump’s high-stakes talks with Iran

Muscat: Officials from the United States and Iran have met face to face, albeit briefly, to launch high-stakes negotiations over the future of Iran’s nuclear program, the first serious engagement between the two countries in a decade.

US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi “briefly spoke in the presence of the Omani foreign minister” after meeting separately with mediators in Oman for just over two hours on Saturday (Sunday AEST), Iranian state-run media reported. The sides are set to hold further talks next week.

Omani security personnel watch a convoy believed to be carrying US envoy Steve Witkoff in Muscat, Oman, on Saturday.Credit: AP

Asked about the talks upon their conclusion on Saturday night, Trump said: “I think they’re going OK.”

“Nothing matters until you get it done, so I don’t like talking about it, but it’s going OK,” he said aboard Air Force One. “The Iran situation is going pretty good, I think.”

Following months of escalating rhetoric between Washington and Tehran, the meeting in the Omani capital seemed to ease regional tensions. The White House called it “a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome”.

“These issues are very complicated,” the White House said. It described discussions so far as “very positive and constructive”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (left) meets his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, before negotiations with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday.Credit: Iranian Foreign Ministry/AP

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who mediated the talks, said they occurred “in a friendly atmosphere conducive to bridging viewpoints”. He hoped the meeting would “begin a process of dialogue and negotiations with the shared aim of concluding a fair and binding agreement”, he said in a post on X.

Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft executive vice president Trita Parsi said the meeting “went as well as it could have gone … After having this first real exchange, both sides will now go back and determine where their red lines are.”

The purpose of the initial talks, Parsi said, was to “try to figure out what is feasible what is not feasible”. Now negotiations will enter a more complicated phase in which the sides will address the more technical elements of a potential deal.

Trump has said that he would prefer to reach a deal that would prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons but that if no agreement can be reached, the use of military force remains on the table.

Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg on Friday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.Credit: AP

The talks are occurring against a backdrop of escalating rhetoric and the build-up of US military assets in an increasingly volatile region. Israel continues to wage war against Hamas in Gaza, and the United States has expanded a campaign of airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen. Hamas and the Houthis are both allies of Iran.

US officials have assessed that Israel plans to strike Iran’s nuclear program this year to deter Tehran from developing a weapon. If the US is unable to reach a deal with Iran, the likelihood of such a strike is expected to increase.

The Pentagon has bolstered the US military presence in the region in recent weeks, adding a second carrier strike group, B-2 bombers and F-35 combat jets to defend US bases and beefing up Patriot antimissile batteries.

While the negotiations appeared to be off to a positive start, the distrust between the sides remains deep. It was Trump who walked away from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and imposed crippling sanctions on Tehran. Trump ordered the 2020 drone strike that killed Major-General Qasem Soleimani, the widely admired commander of Iran’s expeditionary Quds Force.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, (second right) visits an exhibition of Iran’s nuclear achievements in Tehran on Wednesday.Credit: AP

The sides appeared to acknowledge that distrust when they set low expectations going into the meeting on Saturday. Araghchi said he saw “a chance to reach a preliminary agreement to find a path for negotiations”, according to Iranian state-run media.

Trump said the sides would meet without mediators, but Iran insisted the first round of talks be “indirect”. The Iranian and US teams were “seated in separate rooms” while Albusaidi, the Omani foreign minister, conveyed their “points of view and positions”, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on social media.

Araghchi, a veteran diplomat who helped negotiate the 2015 agreement, said the Iranian team will now “study what was discussed in this round” and hold consultations ahead of the next round of talks.

“This is not going to be easy and needs great determination on both sides,” the foreign minister said. “In the next session we are going to enter the general frameworks of a possible agreement.”

President Donald Trump arrives to watch the Ultimate Fighting Championship in Miami on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images

Witkoff has no formal experience in diplomacy, but as a member of Trump’s inner circle, he has quickly developed trust with key US allies in the region. He is also representing the US in talks to end the war in Ukraine and to free the Israeli hostages in Gaza. Before arriving in Oman, he was in St Petersburg meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The deal the Trump administration is seeking is unclear. Officials in Tehran have said they’re open to greater restrictions on uranium enrichment and more transparency for international inspections. In return, Iran is seeking relief from crippling nuclear-related sanctions.

Years of sanctions have crippled Iran’s economy. Corruption, mismanagement and sanctions have triggered an economic crisis and runaway inflation. Iran’s currency last month hit a record low: 1 million rials to the US dollar.

Iran insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes, but it has dramatically expanded the enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported in February. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for Iran’s nuclear program to be completely dismantled.

The sides might also broach Tehran’s support for armed groups in the region and the country’s domestic missile production program. Trump’s Arab allies in the Persian Gulf were disappointed that the nuclear deal negotiated under the Obama administration didn’t address those concerns. But it is unclear whether Trump will prioritise them this time around while operating on a tight deadline.

Pressure will only be building on the Trump administration to reach a deal in the coming months before a so-called snap-back deadline expires in mid-October. Without a new agreement, the European parties to the 2015 deal are expected to impose further sanctions on Iran, a move to which Iran could respond by expelling nuclear inspectors and pulling out of the global treaty that forbids non-nuclear states from developing weapons.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all key policy matters in Iran, has warned repeatedly against negotiating with the US, and he appeared to hold that line ahead of the meeting in Oman. An editorial published on Khamenei’s website Friday cautioned the Iranian people against “getting too optimistic about these talks.”

Khamenei has allowed the government of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to explore the possibility of a deal, but he has continued to use his public statements to criticise the United States. “Experience has shown that the Americans, due to their arrogant and bullying spirit and character, are not willing to negotiate and reach a fair agreement,” the editorial stated.

The Washington Post

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