Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi with Omani counterpart Badr al-Busaidi in Muscat, April 12, 2025

EA on WION: Israel and the Trump-Iran Talks

Why Iran’s Supreme Leader Gave Way to Talks with Trump Administration

UPDATE 1654 GMT:

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has taken the lead in summarizing a “productive” second round of indirect talks with the Trump Administration about Tehran’s nuclear program.

Araqchi said “talks are progressing” with technical discussions in Oman on Wednesday, and a third round of consultations next Saturday to “review the results of the experts’ work and assess how close we are to the core elements of an agreement”.

“We need to follow a moderate and reasonable path with composure,” he declared.

Oman’s Foreign Ministry hailed agreement to move towards the next phase of negotiations aimed at sealing “a fair, enduring and binding deal”. This would ensure “Iran completely free of nuclear weapons and sanctions, and maintaining its ability to develop peaceful nuclear energy”.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi proclaimed, “These talks are gaining momentum and now even the unlikely is possible.”

Araqchi said the presence of International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi was “useful” though “not yet inside the negotiations, because we are still not at the stage where there is a need for that”.

He added, “It is natural that the agency will play an important role in a potential agreement, because the responsibility of verification and monitoring of Iran’s nuclear commitments lies with the agency and we also accept no other entities for verification.”

UPDATE, APR 19:

As Trump Administration and Iranian officials hold a second round of indirect talks, Israel’s Netanyahu Government is still considering a limited attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months.

“An Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is proceeding despite Donald Trump vetoing military operations, which could take place as early as next month.

Israeli officials believe they have freedom to act because the limited strikes would require less US support.

UPDATE 1035 GMT:

Donald Trump blocked plans by Israel’s Netanyahu Government to strike Iranian nuclear sites as soon as next month, according to “administration officials and others briefed on the discussions”.

The sources said Trump chose negotiations with Iran after months of internal debate over diplomacy or military operations.

They portrayed the Israelis as optimistic about the ability of the strikes to set back Iran’s nuclear development by a year or more.

Almost all of the plans would have required US help to defend Israel from Iranian retaliation and to ensure that the strikes were successful.

According to the officials, Trump declined to discuss the plans for Iran when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu phoned him on April 3, instead inviting him to the White House. Four days later, alongside Netanyahu, Trump announced that he had initiated direct talks with Iran.

Gen. Michael Kurilla, the head of US Central Command, and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz had been open to the Israeli proposal for military operations, discussing how the US could help.

Initial plans envisaged a joint Israeli-American bombing campaign combined with raids on underground nuclear sites by Israeli commandoes, protected by US airstrikes.

However, US and Israeli officials, particularly Netanyahu, wanted to expedite the process. So the commando idea was replaced by the plan for an extensive bombing campaign. It would have started in early May and lasted more than a week, beginning with the elimination of Iran’s air defense systems, partially destroyed by Israeli strikes last year.

UPDATE, APR 17:

Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has arrived in Moscow to confer with Russian officials about the nuclear talks with the US.

Araqchi is reportedly delivering a message from the Supreme Leader to Vladimir Putin.

Araqchi said on Wednesday that Iran would continue the negotiations with the US, scheduled to resume on Saturday, in Oman despite the Trump Administration’s shift to demand a total ban on uranium enrichment by Tehran.

The Foreign Minister said the remarks by Trump’s envoy, real estate developer Steve Witkoff, were “not helpful” but he would “wait to be informed on their real position during negotiations”.

“We will participate in the negotiations calmly and coolly without being influenced by any faction,” Araghchi said on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday.

He proclaimed that Iran’s nuclear enrichment for peaceful energy is “real and genuine and we are ready to build trust regarding potential concerns, but the issue of enrichment is nonnegotiable”.

In Tehran, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, met Araqchi on Wednesday and is in discussions with the head of Iran’s nuclear agency Mohammad Eslami today.

UPDATE, APR 16:

The Trump Administration has shifted its position on a key provision in nuclear talks with Iran, clouding the future of the negotiations.

Donald Trump’s envoy, real estate developer Steve Witkoff, had indicated in an interview with Fox TV on Monday that the Administration would not demand a complete halt to Iran’s uranium enrichment for civilian programs. He said the Iranians could enrich to 3.67%, the level set by the 2015 Joint Comprehenisve Plan of Action between Tehran and the 5+1 Powers (US, France, Germany, UK, China, and Russia).

But on Tuesday, Witkoff posted on social media:

A deal with Iran will only be completed if it is a Trump deal. Any final arrangement must set in place a framework for peace, stability and prosperity in the Middle East – meaning that Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponisation program. It is imperative for the world that we create a tough fair deal that will endure, and that is what President Trump has asked me to do.

Iran has always rejected a ban on its enrichment of uranium. The 2015 agreement shipped all of Tehran’s 20% stock for safekeeping outside the country, while setting limits on the amount of 3.67% fuel that could be produced.

Those limits were effectively scrapped when the Trump Administration withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018 and imposed comprehensive sanctions six months later. Iran resumed enrichment of 20% uranium and later began production of 60% fuel, which potentially could be enhanced to the 90% grade needed for military use.

UPDATE 1156 GMT:

Trying to maintain his room for maneuver, Iran’s Supreme Leader has played the significance of the first round of the discussions with the Trump Administration.

Ayatollah Khamenei told Iranian officials, “The Oman talks are one of the tens of tasks of the Foreign Ministry. We shouldn’t make all the country’s issues dependent on those talks.”

Without going into details, Khamenei said:

The Oman talks is a movement that’s been decided upon and well executed in its initial steps. Of course, we distrust the other side very much, but we’re optimistic about our own capabilities.

We’re neither overly optimistic nor overly pessimistic.

He cautioned, “During the era of the JCPOA [2015 nuclear agreement], we tied everything to the progress of the negotiations.”

A spokesman for the Revolutionary Guards reinforced that Iran’s national security and defense capabilities cannot be on the table in the discussions.

“National security and defense and military power are among the red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which cannot be discussed or negotiated under any circumstances,” said Brig. Gen. Ali Mohammad Naeini.

UPDATE, APR 15:

In an apparent change of plan, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson says Saturday’s second round of talks between the Trump Administration and Iran will again be in Oman.

Officials had said that the discussions would move to Rome.

UPDATE 0748 GMT:

Trump Administration talks with Iran are expected to resume in Rome on Saturday, say “two sources with knowledge of the issue”.

A “source with knowledge” said that, despite Iran’s portrayal of last Saturday’s first round in Oman as “indirect talks”, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi spoke for around 45 minutes with Donald Trump’s envoy, real estate developer Steve Witkoff.

The source said the dialogue was “substantive, serious, and excellent”.

UPDATE, APR 14:

Iran’s embattled currency has rebounded by around 20% since the advent of indirect talks with the US last week.

The rial stands at 850,000:1 v. the US dollar on Monday morning.

The currency had lost 95% of its value since 2018 and almost 35% since the fall of Iran’s ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria in early December. It sank to a historic low of 1,062,000:1 before the rebound.

See also Iran’s Currency Sinks Below 1,000,000:1 v. US Dollar

ORIGINAL ENTRY, APR 12: Iran and the Trump Administration have held their first round of “indirect talks” in Oman over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Omani officials moved between Iranian and Trump representatives in separate rooms. They briefly spoke in the presence of Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi at the end of the session.

The Iranian delegation was led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. The Trump group was headed by real estate developer Steve Witkoff.

Araqchi said there were 2 1/2 hours of talks in four indirect exchanges with the Americans. They took place in a “constructive atmosphere based on mutual respect” and would continue next Saturday.

Oman’s al-Busaidi thanked Araqchi and Witkoff for conducting negotiations aimed at “global peace, security and stability”.

“We will continue to work together and put further efforts to assist in arriving at this goal,” he declared.

No details were given of the talks, but an Omani source said they focused on de-escalating regional tensions, conducting prisoner exchanges, and reaching limited agreements to ease sanctions in exchange for controlling Iran’s nuclear program.

Araqchi said before the meeting:

“Our intention is to reach a fair and honourable agreement – from an equal footing.

And if the other side has also entered from the same position, God willing, there will be a chance for an initial agreement that can lead to a path of negotiations.