US, Iran say they're moving closer to nuclear deal after 5th round of talks

The Hill

23-05-2025

Both the U.S. and Iran on Friday indicated that the two countries are moving closer to reaching a new deal regarding Tehran's expanding nuclear program.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, who is the acting mediator, said the fifth round of talks in Rome ended with 'some but not conclusive progress.'
'We hope to clarify the remaining issues in the coming days, to allow us to proceed towards the common goal of reaching a sustainable and honourable agreement,' al-Busaidi wrote on the social media platform X after the Friday meeting.
Both President Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the State Department's policy planning director Michael Anton, who oversees the U.S. technical team, participated in both direct and indirect discussions during the more than two-hour meeting, according to a senior U.S. administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations.
'The talks continue to be constructive — we made further progress, but there is still work to be done. Both sides agreed to meet again in the near future,' the U.S. official added. 'We are grateful to our Omani partners for their continued facilitation.'
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Tehran's media that al-Busaidi outlined a few ideas to bring the two sides closer during the meeting, but that the deliberations are 'too complex' to be resolved in 'just two or three meetings.'
'I am hopeful that in the next one or two rounds — especially given the better understanding of the Islamic Republic's positions — we can reach solutions that allow the talks to progress,' Araghchi said.
This is the fifth meeting between Iranian and U.S. officials. Three rounds of talks have taken place in Muscat, Oman while just one other, aside from Friday's meeting, has taken place in Rome.
The two sides continue to be at odds over nuclear enrichment. Iran has said that it would only enter into another deal with the U.S. if it is still allowed to have domestic enrichment capabilities, something Washington disagrees with.
The discussions are intended to limit Tehran's nuclear program. In return, the U.S. would lift crippling sanctions on the Middle Eastern country.
Trump has previously threatened to take military action against Iran if talks crumble. Israel, the U.S.'s ally in the Middle East, has also threatened to strike Iran's nuclear sites.
With their stockpile of uranium, Iran's top officials have indicated they could pursue the development of a nuclear weapon.
'Iran almost certainly is not producing nuclear weapons, but Iran has undertaken activities in recent years that better position it to produce them, if it chooses to do so,' a 45-page report published earlier this month by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DSA) said.
The DSA said in the report that since 2019, Iran has conducted activities that 'exceed' previous limits set by the 2015 Obama-negotiated deal, 'including increasing the size and enrichment levels of its uranium stockpile, producing small quantities of uranium metal, restricting International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring to pre-[Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)] levels, and expanding uranium enrichment at its Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.'
Trump pulled the U.S. out of the JCPOA in 2018, during his first term in the White House.