US and Iran convey cautious positivity after wrapping up third round of nuclear talks

Leaders from the United States and Iran painted a positive but cautious picture of talks between the nations over Iran’s nuclear program Saturday, after the third phase of the discussions wrapped up in Oman.

Leaders from the United States and Iran painted a positive but cautious picture of talks between the nations over Iran’s nuclear program Saturday, after the third phase of the discussions wrapped up in Oman. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff led the delegations. Technical experts also held talks over Iran’s nuclear program and what a deal would look like. “Today’s third round of talks, in Muscat, were positive and productive. This latest round of direct and indirect discussions lasted over four hours. There is still much to do, but further progress was made on getting to a deal. We agreed to meet again soon, in Europe, and we thank our Omani partners for facilitating these talks,” a senior administration official said. Experts have described the third round of talks as a more difficult phase of technical negotiations as Washington lays out its conditions. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said there are “still differences in major issues and in details” and said they are “hopeful but cautious” about coming to an agreement. “This was a very calm and organized environment to facilitate conversations. The negotiations this time were much more serious than previous ones; we engaged in conversations that were more detailed, more expert-level level and more technical. The expert conversations also went well,” Araghchi said on Saturday.