Weekend nuclear deal between Iran and the US postponed, says Oman's foreign minister
ADVERTISEMENT
Planned negotiations between Iran and the United States this weekend over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear programme have been postponed, Oman has announced.
Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi made the announcement in a post on the social platform X.
"For logistical reasons we are rescheduling the US Iran meeting provisionally planned for Saturday May 3rd," he wrote. "New dates will be announced when mutually agreed."
Al-Busaidi, who has mediated the talks through three rounds so far, did not elaborate.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei issued a statement describing the talks as being "postponed at the request of Oman's foreign minister."
He said Iran remain committed to reaching "a fair and lasting agreement."
An Iranian security official in protective clothing walks through part of the Uranium Conversion Facility just outside Isfahan, 30 March, 2005
Vahid Salemi/Copyright 2019 The AP. All rights reserved.
Meanwhile, a person familiar with the US negotiators said that Washington "had never confirmed its participation" in a fourth round of talks in Rome.
However, the person said the US expected the talks to occur "in the near future."
Two other rounds of talks have been held in Muscat, the Omani capital.
The talks seek to limit Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the US has imposed on the country.
The negotiations have been led by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
Trump threatens air strikes
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash air strikes on Iran's nuclear sites if a deal isn't reached.
Iranian officials have warned that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
The landmark 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, did limit Tehran's nuclear activities.
But Trump unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018, setting in motion years of attacks and tensions.
ADVERTISEMENT
A Yemeni soldier inspects the damage reportedly caused by US air strikes in Sanaa, 27 April, 2025
AP Photo
The wider Middle East region also remains on edge over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the US continues an air strike campaign, called "Operation Rough Rider," that targets the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, who have long been backed by Iran.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a warning to Iran earlier on Thursday about their support for the militant group.
"Message to IRAN: We see your LETHAL support to The Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing," he wrote.
ADVERTISEMENT
"You know very well what the U.S. Military is capable of — and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
30 minutes ago
- France 24
Oman to host US-Iran nuclear talks on Sunday
Despite reporting progress in earlier rounds, Tehran and Washington have sharply disagreed over Iran's uranium enrichment in recent weeks, with Tehran threatening to target US military bases in the region in the event that the talks fail and conflict erupts. Tensions reached a fever pitch this week as Washington ordered the evacuation of personnel from the Middle East and US media reported that Israel appeared to be preparing an attack on Iran. Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi nonetheless confirmed in a post on X on Thursday that the "6th round of Iran US talks will be held in Muscat this Sunday". Iran meanwhile vowed to build a new uranium enrichment facility and "increase signficantly" its production after the UN nuclear watchdog passed a resolution condemning Tehran's "non-compliance". The United States and Iran have held five rounds of talks since April to hammer out a new nuclear deal, replacing a 2015 accord that President Donald Trump abandoned during his first term in office. Trump appeared to shift his previously optimistic tone this week, saying he was "less confident" a deal could be reached, and on Wednesday ordered US personnel to be moved from the potentially "dangerous" Middle East. 'Suffer more losses' Israel has repeatedly warned that it could attack Iranian nuclear sites, vowing to stop its arch foe from acquiring an atomic bomb, which Tehran has consistently denied it was seeking. The US president says he has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off from striking Iran's nuclear facilities to give the talks a chance, but has increasingly signalled that he is losing patience. Iran however warned it would respond to any attack. "All its (US) bases are within our reach, we have access to them, and without hesitation we will target all of them in the host countries," Iran's Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said in response to US threats of military action if the talks fail. "God willing, things won't reach that point, and the talks will succeed," the minister said, adding that the US side "will suffer more losses" if it came to conflict. A US official had earlier said that staff levels at the embassy in Iraq were being reduced over security concerns, while there were reports that personnel were also being moved from Kuwait and Bahrain. An Iraqi security official said it was "not complete evacuation" and the US was taking precautionary measures in case of the failure of talks. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the US embassy in Manama said the mission "has not changed its staffing posture and remains fully operational". 'Strategic mistake' The latest developments come amid a diplomatic standoff over Iran's uranium enrichment, which Tehran has defended as a "non-negotiable" right while Washington has called it a "red line". Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in major state policies, has recently said enrichment is "key" to Iran's nuclear programme and that the United States "cannot have a say" on the issue. On May 31, after the fifth round of talks, Iran said it had received "elements" of a US proposal for a nuclear deal, with Araghchi later saying the text contained "ambiguities". Iran has said it will present a counter-proposal to the latest draft from Washington, which it had criticised for failing to offer relief from sanctions -- a key demand for Tehran, which has been reeling under their weight for years. On Tuesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors adopted a resolution drafted by the US, Britain, France and Germany, condemning Iran's "non-compliance" with its nuclear obligations. In response, Iran's foreign ministry and atomic agency said orders had been issued "to launch a new enrichment centre in a secure location". The agency added that uranium enrichment would "increase significantly". The resolution could lay the groundwork for European countries to invoke the "snapback" mechanism under the 2015 nuclear deal, reinstating UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance -- an option that expires in October.
France 24
30 minutes ago
- France 24
UK economy shrinks in April as US tariffs kick in
Gross domestic product contracted 0.3 percent in the month, compared to 0.2 percent growth in March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement. Analysts' consensus had been for a GDP contraction of 0.1 percent in April. Exports of British goods to the United States fell by a record £2 billion ($2.7 billion) the same month, the ONS revealed, following the introduction of Trump's tariffs onslaught. The data comes one day after Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government laid out its priorities for the coming years, hoping that changes to day-to-day spending amounts and longer-term investment will spur Britain's sluggish economy. 'Clearly disappointing' Finance minister Rachel Reeves injected the ailing National Health Service with billions of pounds and pumped funds into defence and housing, while making cuts to other departments. Reeves said Thursday's figures were "clearly disappointing" but insisted that her spending plans would deliver growth for Britain. Paul Dales, chief UK economist at research group Capital Economics, noted that the economy faced "subdued overseas demand and domestic businesses cutting back on spending to compensate for the rise in costs driven by April's increase in taxes". Following Labour's return to power last July, following years of Conservative rule, Reeves announced a tax rise for UK businesses which entered force in April. Official data this week showed that the hike had contributed to a small rise in Britain's unemployment rate and slowdown to growth in average wages. Record drop Britain's economy had expanded by 0.7 percent in the first three months of the year. "With the economy now weakening, we can expect to see concerns around further tax rises increase as we near the Autumn Budget -- which is likely to weigh on growth even more," said Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter. The latest data follows also the introduction of a baseline 10-percent tariff imposed on the UK and other countries by Trump at the start of April. The UK and US have since struck a trade agreement that cuts tariffs on British cars and scraps them on steel and aluminium. Britain in return has agreed to open up its markets to US beef and other American farm goods. But the UK remains subject to a 10-percent tariff on most goods exported to the United States. Decreases in exports to the United States in April were seen "across most types of goods, following the recent introduction of tariffs", said ONS director of economic statistics, Liz McKeown. Machinery and transport equipment, including cars, took a notable hit, after four months of consecutive increases for exports of British goods to the US. Official data earlier this year showed trade in goods between the UK and US remained balanced in 2024. Britain imported £57.1 billion ($77 billion) worth of American goods last year and exported products worth a total of £59.3 billion.
Local France
38 minutes ago
- Local France
OPINION: The Macron-Trump bromance is heading for a bust-up
On Sunday President Emmanuel Macron will become the first French leader ever to make an official visit to Greenland. He will be the first EU leader to set foot in the vast Danish autonomous territory since Donald Trump began to make bullying comments about the manifest right of the United States to grab all the real estate on its northern borders. Trolls were originally part of Danish, Swedish and Norwegian folklore. Macron is 'trolling' Trump – on his way to a G7 summit in Canada where he will meet the US President that he calls a 'friend'. Something has changed in Macron's obsequious public approach to Trump in the last few weeks. Other members of the French government – the Prime Minister François Bayrou and the foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot – have overtly criticised the US President. In March Bayrou said that Donald Trump planned to 'destroy the international order' and 'make the world even more dangerous'. In public, Macron has been careful not to attack Trump by name. He claims a 'friendship' with the US president from their first terms of office. He said in March that he speaks to Trump at least once every two days. Advertisement In private, Macron, I am told, has no illusions about the US leader. He returned from his visit to the White House in February disturbed by what he heard off-camera. He told senior political and military figures in France that his conversations with Trump and senior US administration figures had been 'bizarre, brutal and sometimes racist'. Macron believes nonetheless – or once believed - that nothing can be gained by frontal attacks on Trump. Something useful might still be achieved, he once hoped, for Ukraine and for transatlantic trade, by a mixture of flattery, cajolery and a patient separation of facts from Trumpian obsessions and inventions. Four months later, something is shifting. Macron has still not attacked Trump directly. But the French president is moving towards the kind of open challenge to the Trumpian worldview that is likely to strain their strange bromance. On his visit to south-east Asia last month, Macron called on Asian countries to ally with Europe to resist bullying attempts by 'big powers' to build 'spheres of coercion'. Officially, he was talking about China and Russia. In the context, he was also clearly referring to the United States. Speaking at a conference on the future of the oceans in Nice on Tuesday, Macron said that 'ocean depths are not for sale, any more than Greenland is for sale'. Referring to his visit to the Danish territory this weekend, he said that his intention was to make it clear that 'predation' and 'threats' were not acceptable. Where all this is heading is unclear. Trump may not yet have noticed the change in Macron's tone. It may suit both men to continue the fable of their unlikely friendship. But I expect that we are heading for a bust-up. The French President has almost two years left in power but no majority in parliament and little real influence on domestic policy. The second coming of Trump offered him vindication at home and pivotal, diplomatic influence abroad. His appeals in the last eight years for Europe to build its own 'strategic autonomy', independent of the US, have proved to be visionary. Macron remains an important figure in Europe and internationally. It was the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen who invited him to 'troll Trump' by joining them in talks on the territory's future this weekend. But Trump's return to office has also confronted the French President with his own contradictions. After appealing for years for the EU to move towards military and diplomatic autonomy, Macron finds that France's own future defence investment is compromised by the state budget deficits that have piled up during his eight years in office. At the Nato summit in The Hague later this month, Trump will push for European countries to increase defence spending to 5 percent of GDP (while doing everything he can to undermine their economies). Macron has spoken vaguely of increasing the French defence budget to 3.5 percent of GDP but there is no obvious way that can happen without cutting social spending or missing France's deficit-cutting targets. Advertisement In alliance with Sir Keir Starmer, Macron hoped that he could persuade Trump that Vladimir Putin had no plans to end the war in Ukraine. It was time to intensify international sanctions on Russia, not weaken them. Trump seems to have accepted that his disjointed and floundering peace initiative is going nowhere. But there is no sign that he is willing to join the EU in new sanctions or that he is prepared to continue military aid to Ukraine. On transatlantic trade, Trump continues to speak nonsense about the size of the US-EU trade deficit and refer to the EU as a 70-year-old conspiracy to damage the United States. The Trump State Department published an unhinged new doctrine on Europe last month in which France, Britain and Germany are America's enemies and Marine Le Pen and 'Christian Hungary' are America's friends. Advertisement In sum, the chances of a big quarrel between the US and Europe in the next month are high. Trump has given way on China; he will be looking for a diversionary squabble elsewhere. The French president, marginalised in domestic politics, is understandably tempted to prove that he still exists by playing a pivotal role in European and international affairs. But at some point soon he will have to make a clear choice. Will he continue to humour and flatter Trump or will he stand up to him?
