US and Iran agree to meet next week for fourth round of nuclear talks

Tehran says ballistic missile capabilities have not been raised in indirect negotiations

US and Iranian officials on Saturday agreed to meet next week for a fourth round of talks, as the two sides concluded high-stakes negotiations in Oman over Tehran's nuclear programme.

The announcement came after US President Donald Trump said he was open to meeting Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and that he thought the two countries would reach a new agreement.

"US-Iran talks today identified a shared aspiration to reach agreement based on mutual respect and enduring commitments," Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi wrote in a post on social media. "Core principles, objectives and technical concerns were addressed."

The third round of indirect talks was held in separate halls, like the previous two rounds, Iranian Foreign Ministry representative Esmail Baqaei told reporters. The countries also held their first technical meeting.

The talks lasted for about seven hours, Iranian state media reported.

The Iranian delegation included sanctions, banking and nuclear field experts, Mr Baqaei said. "The Islamic Republic of Iran is steadfast in its principled positions regarding the necessity of ending the oppressive sanctions and its readiness to build confidence regarding the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme," he added.

Oman has been mediating between the longtime adversaries since the resumption of negotiations.

Hours after the talks began, hundreds of people were injured in a powerful explosion and fire at the Shahid Rajaee port, in southern Iran's Bandar Abbas. The immediate cause of the explosion was not clear, but an alert was declared at all hospitals in Bandar Abbas by the Crisis Management Headquarters.

Mr Trump, in an April 22 interview with Time magazine published on Friday, said he thought the US was "going to make a deal with Iran" following indirect talks in which the sides agreed to draw up a framework for a potential deal.

However, when asked if the US would join a war against Iran should Israel take action, he said: "I may go in very willingly if we can't get a deal. If we don't make a deal, I'll be leading the pack."

The US President, speaking separately to reporters at the White House on Friday, reiterated his positive prognosis, saying things are "going very well. We'll see what happens".

A US official said the discussions yielded "very good progress" so far.

Asked by Time whether he was open to meeting Mr Khamenei or President Masoud Pezeshkian, Mr Trump replied: "Sure."

Saturday's talks are the most in-depth so far as the two sides attempt to reach a new nuclear accord after Mr Trump pulled the US out of the previous pact in 2018 during his first term, three years after it was agreed under former president Barack Obama.

Unlike the 2015 agreement, which also involved Europe, Russia and China, the negotiations this time are between the US and Iran exclusively.

So far, the discussions have focused only on Iran's nuclear programme and ensuring that it does not develop nuclear weapons, not other possible sticking points such as its ballistic missile programme or proxies across the region.

Mr Baqaei said Tehran's ballistic missile capabilities "have not and will not" be raised in the indirect talks, semi-official state news outlet Tasnim reported on Saturday.

The involvement of Israel, albeit from the sidelines, might further complicate matters, Iranian writer and historian Arash Azizi told The National.

"Since President Trump has recently spoken with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, affirming that they are on the same page on Iran, there is a chance that there might be new hurdles or firmer positions by the US in the coming meeting on Saturday," he said.

Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly called for strikes on Iran's nuclear plants to prevent it from developing atomic weapons.

Thomas Juneau, associate fellow with the Mena programme at the Chatham House think tank, said he expects "more tensions" to emerge over the next weeks and months, in a divergence from the cordial atmosphere around the initial talks.

"Lower-level people in both governments will meet and try to run through the massive amount of detail that needs to be worked out, and that will be frustrating," Mr Juneau said.

Technical talks are limited in what they can achieve and will not shift the broad parameters of what can be agreed on, he added. Sticking points could include whether the US will accept Iran continuing to enrich uranium under its nuclear programme, which it insists is for peaceful civilian purposes.

The US recently said Iran could enrich uranium to 3.67 per cent, the limit set under the 2015 pact, before making a U-turn and insisting that all enrichment must stop − something Tehran has ruled out.

Europe's role, or lack thereof, will also be a factor. In a post on X on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was willing to visit Germany, the UK and France – the E3 group of nations that were part of the 2015 pact.