In an official statement issued Saturday, Oman's Foreign Ministry confirmed that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the US envoy to the Middle East, Steve Whitcoff, agreed to enter the next phase of negotiations aimed at reaching a "fair, stable, and binding agreement" on Iran's nuclear program.
According to the statement, the parties made progress during the talks in Rome, which were mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi. The statement said the goal of the agreement is "to ensure that Iran is entirely free of nuclear weapons and sanctions, while maintaining its ability to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes." The next round of talks is expected to take place in Muscat "in the coming days."
Despite the declared progress, significant gaps remain between the sides. On the eve of the Rome talks, a senior Iranian official told Reuters about the "red lines" set by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. According to the official, "Iran will never agree to dismantle its uranium enrichment centrifuges, to completely halt uranium enrichment, or to reduce its stockpile of enriched uranium below the levels agreed to in the 2015 accord."
Ali Shamkhani, an advisor to Khamenei, stressed ahead of the meeting that Iran "is heading toward a balanced agreement, not surrender," and added that the Iranian delegation arrived in Rome "with full authority to achieve a comprehensive agreement based on nine principles," including "rejection of the Libya model" and "curbing disruptive actors (such as Israel)."
According to earlier reports this week, Iran presented the US with a three-phase plan. The proposal includes reducing uranium enrichment to 3.67% in the first stage, halting high-level enrichment and restoring International Atomic Energy Agency oversight in the second stage, and transferring excess uranium to a third country in the third stage, all in exchange for a phased lifting of sanctions.
Initially, the US side described the talks as "a very preliminary phase," intended to determine whether there were basic principles that justified launching full negotiations. The progress confirmed in the Omani statement indicates that both sides have found common ground to proceed, despite the significant remaining differences.
The progress in negotiations comes amid rising regional tensions and growing concern in Israel over Iran's nuclear program. The Omani statement emphasized that "only through dialogue and clear communication can we achieve a reliable and mutually understood agreement for the benefit of all parties involved."
