Iran, U.S. hold talks on Tehran's nuclear program amid heightened Middle East tensions

Iran and the United States held talks in Oman on Saturday aimed at jump-starting negotiations over Tehran's fast-advancing nuclear program, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening military action if there is no deal.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led Iran's delegation while Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff headed the U.S. side. The talks were the first between Iran and a Trump administration, including his first term in 2017-21.

"Indirect talks between Iran and the United States with the mediation of the Omani foreign minister have started," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei posted on X.

Each delegation had its separate room and would exchange messages via Oman's foreign minister, Baghaei said.

Iran's Foreign Ministry later released a statement saying the "indirect talks" lasted more than two and a half hours and the two parties agreed that negotiations would continue next week.

The ministry said at the end of Saturday's talks that the heads of the Iranian and American delegations talked for a few minutes in the presence of Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi as they left the talks.

WATCH | Trump says Iran 'in great danger' if talks fail:

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said the United States and Iran were poised to begin direct talks on Tehran's nuclear program, warning that if talks are unsuccessful, 'Iran is going to be in great danger.' However, a senior Iranian official said any negotiations would be indirect, with Oman acting as intermediary.

"The current focus of the talks will be de-escalating regional tensions, prisoner exchanges and limited agreements to ease sanctions [against Iran] in exchange for controlling Iran's nuclear program," an Omani source told Reuters.

Baghaei denied this account but did not specify what was false.

Oman has long been an intermediary between Western powers and Iran, having brokered the release of several foreign citizens and dual nationals held by the Islamic Republic.

Tehran approached the talks warily, skeptical they could yield a deal and suspicious of Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to bomb Iran if it does not halt its escalating uranium enrichment program — seen by the West as a possible pathway to nuclear weapons.

While each side has talked up the chances of some progress, they remain far apart on a dispute that has rumbled on for more than two decades. Iran has long denied seeking nuclear weapons, but Western countries and Israel believe it is covertly trying to develop the means to build an atomic bomb.

For the moment, it appeared Saturday's exchanges would only be indirect, as Iran had sought, rather than face-to-face, as Trump had demanded.

Ahead of the talks, Araghchi met with Oman's foreign minister in the capital Muscat to present Tehran's "key points and positions to be conveyed to the U.S. side," Iranian state media reported.

There was no word yet on the talks from the U.S. side.

Signs of progress could help cool tensions in a region aflame since 2023 with wars in Gaza and Lebanon, missile fire between Iran and Israel, Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping and the overthrow of the government in Syria.

However, failure would aggravate fears of a wider conflagration across a region that exports much of the world's oil. Tehran has cautioned neighbouring countries that have U.S. bases that they would face "severe consequences" if they were involved in any U.S. military attack on Iran.

"There is a chance for initial understanding on further negotiations if the other party [U.S.] enters the talks with an equal stance," Araghchi told Iranian TV.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on key state matters, has given Araghchi "full authority" for the talks, an Iranian official told Reuters.

Iran has ruled out negotiating its defence capabilities such as its ballistic missile program.

Western nations say Iran's enrichment of uranium, a nuclear fuel source, has gone far beyond the requirements of a civilian energy program and has produced stocks at a level of fissile purity close to those required in warheads.

Trump, who has restored a "maximum pressure" campaign on Tehran since February, ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six world powers in 2018 during his first term and reimposed crippling sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Since then, Iran's nuclear program has leaped forward, including by enriching uranium to 60 per cent fissile purity, a technical step from the levels needed for a bomb.

Israel, Washington's closest Middle East ally, regards Iran's nuclear program as an existential threat and has long threatened to attack Iran if diplomacy fails to curb its nuclear ambitions.

Tehran's influence throughout the Middle East has been severely weakened over the past 18 months, with its regional allies — known as the "Axis of Resistance" — either dismantled or badly damaged since the start of the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza and the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria in December.