Iran and US advance to technical talks on Tehran’s nuclear program

MUSCAT, Oman — Iran and the United States held their first technical-level talks on Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program Saturday, a more complex phase of their high-stakes negotiations.

“The negotiations this round were much more serious than in the past,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state television. A senior Trump administration official called the talks “positive and productive.” The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy.

The sides met for more than four hours and agreed to continue talking. “There is still much to do, but further progress was made on getting to a deal,” the administration official said.

Both sides have described the talks so far as largely positive, but negotiations could become more fraught as they become more complex.

As talks opened, a huge blast rocked a port in southern Iran, killing at least four people and injuring more than 500, state-run media reported.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered an investigation into the “accident,” he wrote on X. He dispatched Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni to the Persian Gulf port of Bandar Abbas to “closely examine the dimensions of the accident, make the necessary coordination, and address the condition of the injured.”

Rescue teams were sent to help transport the injured.

“Initial speculations suggest that recklessness in storing flammable material has caused this,” state television reported.

The news sent shock waves through a country already on edge amid U.S. and Israeli threats to use military force against its nuclear program.

On Saturday, as in previous meetings, the Omani Foreign Ministry mediated between the U.S. and Iranian teams. The sides sat in separate rooms of an Omani government building; Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi shuttled messages between them.

Araghchi said they were able to “gradually enter more detail and more technical topics. The presence of the experts was really useful.” But he also sounded a note of caution: “Both sides showed their will, but sometimes will alone is not enough.”

President Donald Trump has said he would prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. While Israel and hawks within his own administration push to use military force, he has favored a diplomatic solution — but with a tight timeline: In a letter to Iran in March, he said he wanted a deal in two months.

His administration has not publicly declared its red lines, and officials continue to make seemingly contradictory statements about its goals. Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, has suggested the United States wants to limit Iranian enrichment, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Iran will not be allowed any enrichment capability at all.

The U.S. technical team is led by Michael Anton, director of the State Department’s policy planning office, and includes officials from State, the Treasury Department and intelligence community.

The Iranian team is staffed largely with sanctions relief experts, state television has reported. It’s led by Deputy Ministers Majid Takht Ravanchi of political affairs and Kazem Gharibabadi of legal and international affairs. Both were involved in the talks between the United States, Iran and other countries that led to a 2015 agreement. Trump withdrew the United States from that deal during his first term.

Current negotiations have been largely indirect, but Witkoff and Araghchi have also held brief direct meetings. Trump initially pushed for direct talks with Iran in the belief the format would allow the talks to progress faster.

The fact the sides advanced to technical talks suggests they reached an agreement on general principles and perhaps a timeline for the talks going forward. Inside Iran, relatively broad support for the talks within the country’s leadership appears to be holding.

During public remarks Thursday, Iran’s supreme leader referred to the story of an imam who was criticized for making peace with non-Muslims.

“The imam would say it is temporary,” the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said. “This dominance of disbelief and hypocrisy is not meant to be permanent.”

The supreme leader approved the talks with the United States amid mounting pressure from crippling U.S. sanctions and Israeli military attacks.

But some in Iran continue to oppose engagement. Conservative headliner Mehdi Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader in Mashhad, the country’s second-largest city, warned worshippers against staking their hopes of economic recovery on the success of talks.

“It is not right to tie our lives to negotiations and to America,” he said. He cautioned against believing “if the negotiations are successful, our economy will be secured and if not, our economy has failed.”