DUBAI. Iran and the United States have agreed to begin outlining a framework for a possible nuclear agreement, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Saturday, following what a U.S. official described as “very good progress” in recent negotiations.
The development comes after a second round of indirect talks held in Rome, where Araqchi and U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, exchanged messages through an Omani mediator for over four hours.
Speaking to Iranian state television after the discussions, Araqchi emphasized the constructive tone of the talks. “We were able to make some progress on several principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
He confirmed that expert-level negotiations are set to begin this coming Wednesday in Oman, where delegates will start “designing a framework for an agreement.” High-level negotiators will reconvene in Oman on Saturday to review the experts’ proposals and assess whether they align with the agreed principles.
Despite the progress, Araqchi tempered expectations: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic,” echoing the cautious stance of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The U.S. side confirmed the progress. “Today, in Rome over four hours in our second round of talks, we made very good progress in our direct and indirect discussions,” a senior Trump administration official said.
President Trump, who unilaterally pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) during his first term in 2018, has repeatedly demanded a new deal that would decisively prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump said: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Iran has long insisted that its nuclear program is peaceful, but since 2019, it has significantly exceeded the limits imposed by the 2015 accord, including stockpiling highly enriched uranium at levels far above what Western powers deem necessary for civilian energy use.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials, who opposed the original 2015 agreement, are reportedly not ruling out military action against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure in the coming months, according to one Israeli official and two sources familiar with the matter.
A senior Iranian official, speaking anonymously, outlined Tehran’s non-negotiable positions: Iran will not agree to dismantle its uranium-enrichment centrifuges, cease enrichment activities entirely, or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below the thresholds set in the 2015 pact.
As diplomatic efforts cautiously move forward, the world watches closely to see whether a viable path to a new nuclear deal can be forged amid persistent mistrust and heightened geopolitical stakes.
Edgaroo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
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