Trump says he expects to make a decision on Iran’s nuclear program ‘very quickly’
Next round of talks set for April 19 in Rome, after first round summed up as ‘substantive, excellent’; UN nuclear watchdog chief to visit Iran this week; Witkoff briefs Dermer
Asked about US talks with Iran on its nuclear program, US President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that he expects a decision to be made soon, ahead of a second round of talks set to take place this Saturday in Rome.
“We’ll be making a decision on Iran very quickly,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on his way from Florida back to the White House.
His comments came a day after talks in Oman, which included a conversation between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the highest-level Iran-US negotiations since the collapse of the 2015 nuclear accord.
According to the Axios news site, Witkoff and Araghchi spoke for around 45 minutes on Saturday, with a source saying that the conversation between the two was “substantive, serious and excellent.”
Iran and the US separately described Saturday’s discussions as “constructive.”
Axios also reported that Witkoff briefed Trump on the discussions Sunday and that the change in venue for the negotiations from Muscat to Rome was suggested by the Trump administration. The meeting in Rome is set for Saturday, April 19.
Witkoff also briefed Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer on the talks, Axios quoted an Israeli official saying.
Iran’s foreign ministry said Monday that Araghchi is set to visit Moscow this week to further discuss the negotiations, adding that the trip was “pre-planned” and would be “an opportunity to discuss the latest developments related to the Muscat talks.”
Russia — a close ally of Tehran — and China have held discussions with Iran in recent weeks over its nuclear program.
Moscow welcomed the Iran-US talks as it pushed for a diplomatic solution and warned that military confrontation would be a “global catastrophe.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Monday also said he welcomed the talks between the US and Iran but insisted Europe would be “vigilant” its security concerns were taken into account.
“We very much welcome this step, but we will be vigilant with our British and German friends and partners to ensure that any negotiations that may be undertaken are consistent with our security interests,” Barrot said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
The negotiations came weeks after Trump sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for nuclear talks while warning of possible military action if Tehran refused.
‘Diplomatic solutions are urgently needed’
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Monday he will travel to Tehran this week to discuss cooperation on the country’s nuclear program.
“Continued engagement and cooperation with the Agency is essential at a time when diplomatic solutions are urgently needed,” said Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in a post on X.
According to a diplomatic source, the visit is expected to take place on Thursday. Grossi last visited Iran in November, where he held talks with top officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian.
In its latest quarterly report in February, the IAEA said Iran had an estimated 274.8 kilograms (605 pounds) of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent, close to the 90% level needed to make nuclear weapons.
Last week, Iran threatened to halt cooperation with IAEA inspectors if the US continued to threaten use of force if talks collapsed, with an adviser to Khamenei saying “continued external threats and putting Iran under the conditions of a military attack could lead to deterrent measures like the expulsion of IAEA inspectors and ceasing cooperation with it.”
While Trump has said the talks in Oman were the “start” of the process of putting Iran in a position to “thrive,” he has repeatedly threatened use of force if negotiations fail, and last Wednesday said Israel would take the leading role in a potential strike on Iran.
“Israel will obviously be very much involved in that — it’ll be the leader of that,” he said, in what appeared to be the first time he’s explicitly threatened an Iranian strike by Israel.
Efforts to settle a dispute over Iran’s nuclear program have ebbed and flowed for more than 20 years without resolution.
Trump tore up a 2015 deal between Iran and six world powers — the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany — during his first term of office in 2018 and also imposed stiff sanctions. Iran responded by dropping some of its commitments to the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Iran, which avowedly seeks Israel’s destruction, has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However, it has been enriching uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, has obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and has expanded its ballistic missile capabilities, and its officials have increasingly warned that they could pursue the bomb.
Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Western-backed shah and Iran’s subsequent seizure of the US Embassy in Tehran and its holding of 52 American diplomats as hostages.
The Times of Israel Community.