Iran's Foreign Minister says he will have indirect talks with U.S. envoy over Tehran's nuclear programme

Iran's Foreign Minister to meet U.S. envoy in Oman for indirect nuclear talks amid escalating tensions.

Iran’s Foreign Minister said on Tuesday (April 8, 2025) that he’ll meet with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman for the first negotiations under the Trump administration seeking to halt Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program as tensions remain high in the Middle East.

Speaking to Iranian state television from Algeria, Abbas Araghchi maintained the talks would be indirect, likely with Omani mediators shuttling between the two parties.

U.S. President Donald Trump, in announcing the negotiations on Monday (April 7, 2025), described them as being direct talks.

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Years of indirect talks under the Biden administration failed to reach any success, as Tehran now enriches uranium up to 60% purity — a technical step away from weapons-grade levels.

Both the U.S. and Israel have threatened Iran with military attack over the programme, while officials in Tehran increasingly warn they could potentially pursue a nuclear bomb.

“Our main goal in the talks is naturally restoring rights of people as well as lifting sanctions and if the other side has a real will, this is achievable, and it has no relation to the method, either direct or indirect,” Mr. Araghchi said.