U.S., Iran report progress in nuclear talks; more planned

ROME — Iran and the United States plan to meet over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program again this week, after both sides said they made progress in their talks Saturday in Rome.

A U.S. official confirmed that at a point during the negotiations in Rome, President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke face to face.

Before they meet again in Oman on April 26, Araghchi said, technical-level talks would be held in the coming days. That experts would be discussing details of a possible deal suggests movement in the talks and comes as Trump has pushed for a rapid agreement while threatening military action against Iran.

The sides “made very good progress in our direct and indirect discussions,” according to a senior Trump administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In a post on X, Araghchi similarly said they made “progress on principles and objectives of a possible deal.” He added, however, that “optimism may be warranted but only with a great deal of caution.”

While the U.S. said both direct and indirect discussions were held, Iranian officials described them as indirect, like those last weekend in Muscat, Oman, with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi shuttling between them in different rooms.

In his first term, Trump unilaterally withdrew from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018, setting off years of attacks and negotiations that failed to restore the accord that drastically limited Tehran’s enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.