After technical consultations, senior negotiators were hoping to meet again on April 26, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry.
Iran and the US have completed indirect nuclear negotiations for the second round. This is moving forward with further plans next week, as Iran’s foreign minister has described it as “constructive.”
According to Aragut, Abbas Aragut and US Middle Eastern envoy Steve Witkov held a four-hour indirect consultation on Saturday at the Italian capital of Rome.
“We have managed to reach a better understanding of certain principles and goals,” the diplomat was quoted by the semi-feature Tasnim News Agency. “The negotiations are being held in a constructive atmosphere and are progressing.”
There have been no reads of the meeting from the US side yet.
According to Iranian officials, delegations led by Araguchi and Witkov, billionaire real estate executives whom US President Donald Trump shut down a message between Omani Al-Busaidi, remained in separate rooms at the embassy.
Iran’s foreign ministry said the parties will hold more indirect technical level consultations in the coming days, with another meeting with senior officials continuing on April 26th.
Today there was a useful indirect consultation with the United States, which was held by the Foreign Ministers of Iran and Oman in a constructive atmosphere.
Both sides agree to continue indirect consultations at the technical level in a few days, followed by another round at their own level…
– esmaeil baqaei (@irimfa_spox) April 19, 2025
“We hope to be in a better position after next week’s technical session,” said Araguchi, according to Tasnim. “There is no reason for excessive optimism or pessimism.”
“Negotiations to pick up”
James Bayes of Al Jazeera reported near the Omani diplomatic facility in Rome, saying Iran’s response was “very positive” for a delegation that “seemed to be quite negative about consultations.”
Next week’s planned speech “will be taking up the pace of negotiations,” Bayes said.
The latest conference comes a week after Iran and the United States gathered in Muscat since Trump unilaterally abandoned the landmark nuclear deal signed and mediated by world powers in 2015.
Iranians are “looking for consistency when it comes to current lectures,” Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asady reported from Tehran.
Would you like to accept a private nuclear program?
Western governments, including the United States, have long accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons. The allegations denied by Tehran, claiming that the nuclear program is for peaceful civilian use only. On Wednesday, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Iran “not too far” from owning nuclear weapons.
Grossi was also in Rome where he met Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Saturday. Grossi’s nuclear watchdog could be central to Iran’s verification of compliance if a transaction is reached, similar to the 2015 agreement.
The United States and Iran had no diplomatic relations since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. After taking office in January, Trump revived his “major pressure” sanctions campaign against Tehran, but in March he called on Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei for new negotiations.
“I’m not in a hurry,” Trump said Thursday. “I think Iran wants to talk.”
On Friday, Araguchi said the US had expressed “some degree of seriousness” during its initial talks, but questioned Washington’s “intention and motivation.”
Bayes said the conflict remains whether Iran could maintain a civilian nuclear program, or whether it must completely dismantle the nuclear program, as Washington hardliners argue.
“What they were talking about in Muscat last week is the framework of the discussion and what they want to achieve here in Rome,” Bayes said. “They haven’t discussed the details of the nuclear…and the devil is in detail about these things.”