Oman's Foreign Minister Says There Is Significant Progress in Iran-United States Negotiations

JAKARTA - The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Oman said there was significant progress in Iran's negotiations with the United States, after the two countries completed the third round of indirect negotiations held in Geneva, Switzerland.

The indirect talks with the Omani mediator are aimed at resolving a long-running nuclear dispute and preventing new US attacks, amid Washington's large-scale military buildup in the Middle East.

In a post on the X social media after the negotiations ended, Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi wrote that both parties plan to continue negotiations immediately after consultations in their respective capital cities, with technical-level discussions scheduled to take place next week in Vienna, as quoted from Al Arabiya and Reuters (27/2).

"I thank all parties concerned for their efforts: the negotiators, the IAEA, and our hosts, the Swiss government," he added, launching Anadolu.

The optimistic assessment of the Omani minister followed indirect talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Geneva, which were divided into a first session in the morning and a second session in the afternoon.

"We have completed today after significant progress in negotiations between the United States and Iran," said Foreign Minister al-Busaidi.

After the morning session, Foreign Minister al-Busaidi said the two sides had exchanged "creative and positive ideas."

However, a senior Iranian official said at the time that some gaps still needed to be narrowed.

Thursday's talks were the longest round held so far. The round of talks, held in one of the buildings of the Embassy of Oman in the Swiss city, lasted more than five hours, longer than the first round in Muscat earlier this month and the second round in Geneva on February 17.

After exchanging notes through the Omani Foreign Minister and the head of the UN nuclear watchdog Rafael Grossi for more than three hours, the two sides postponed the session at around 13:30 local time.

The second session of the third round of talks after the break began at around 17:45 local time, after almost four hours and ended at 19:30 local time.

Previously, there were reports that the Omani mediator urged the two negotiating parties to continue negotiations on Friday, but this did not materialize.

Like the previous rounds held in Muscat and Geneva, the Iranian delegation was led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, while the American delegation was led by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), joined the talks on Thursday as a technical observer.

Meanwhile, describing the talks as one of the most serious Iran has ever had with the US, Foreign Minister Araghchi told Iranian state television: "We reached an agreement on some issues, and there are differences on some other issues."

"It was decided that the next round of negotiations will take place soon, less than a week later," he said, adding that Iran had clearly stated its demands for the lifting of sanctions.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. negotiating team on the outcome of the talks.

Any substantial step toward a difficult-to-achieve deal between Washington and Tehran's arch-enemies could reduce US President Donald Trump's prospects for carrying out a threatened attack on Iran that many fear could escalate into a wider war.

Discussions about the decades-long dispute over Iran's nuclear program come amid growing concerns about conflict in the Middle East.

President Trump is known to have repeatedly threatened to take action if there is no agreement and the US military has deployed its forces in waters near the Islamic Republic.

Previously, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran and Washington could reach a framework for an agreement if Washington separated "nuclear and non-nuclear issues."

The Trump administration insisted that Iran's missile program and other issues must be part of the negotiations.

Washington, which believes Tehran wants the ability to build a nuclear bomb, wants Iran to halt all uranium enrichment, a process that produces fuel for atomic power plants but can also produce material for warheads.

On the other hand, Iran has long denied wanting a bomb and said earlier on Thursday that it would show flexibility in the talks.

Reuters reported on Sunday that Tehran offered unspecified new concessions in return for the lifting of sanctions and recognition of its right to enrich uranium.

However, the United States also wants to expand talks to other issues including Iran's ballistic missile arsenal and its support for armed groups in the region.