Western media reports say U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters yesterday at the White House after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu that the US and Iran will hold “direct talks” over a possible nuclear deal on Saturday, April 12.
Trump reportedly declined to give further details about the meeting beyond saying it would be “at top level.”
Reuters reports that in a further sign of the difficult path to any deal between the two geopolitical foes, Trump issued a stark warning that if the talks are unsuccessful, “Iran is going to be in great danger.”
The BBC says the meeting has also been confirmed by Iran's foreign minister who said the talks would be “indirect” but could be “as much an opportunity as it is a test”.
Iran's foreign minister confirmed Washington and Tehran will meet in Oman on April 12. Abbas Araghchi wrote on X: "It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America's court."
CNN, citing a person familiar with the plans, says US officials are expected to sit down with Iranian officials to directly discuss a nuclear deal on Saturday in a meeting hosted by Oman.
But the source could not say who would participate and at what level. Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is believed to be handling the Iran file.
Iran had previously rejected Trump’s offer of direct negotiations over its nuclear program, offering instead to engage in indirect talks. Trump’s offer, which he sent to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in March, proposed negotiations on a new nuclear deal, with a two-month ultimatum to reach an agreement, a source familiar with the letter’s contents previously told CNN.
“We don’t avoid talks; it’s the breach of promises that has caused issues for us so far,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in televised remarks last month when he rejected direct negotiations, according to CNN. “They must prove that they can build trust,” Iranian President noted
The Iranian mission to the UN declined to comment when asked about direct talks or the meeting that Trump announced.
The United States and Iran held indirect talks during former President Joe Biden's term but they made little if any progress.
The last known direct negotiations between the two governments were under then-President Barack Obama, who spearheaded the 2015 international nuclear deal that Trump later abandoned.
