Oman’s Foreign Minister announced that the fourth round of talks with the US on Iran’s nuclear program has been postponed.
Minister Badr Bin Hamad Al-Busaidi made the announcement on social media platform X on Thursday, days before talks were expected to begin in Rome.
“For logistics reasons, we are rescheduling the tentatively planned US Iran conference on Saturday, May 3rd,” he wrote. “A new date will be announced when mutual agreement is reached.”
Al-Busaidi previously mediated three consultations between Iran and the US. The first took place on April 12th in Oman’s capital Moscat, and followed up in Rome the following weekend. The third round negotiations returned to Moscat on April 26th. The US has touted “progress” towards nuclear deals.
But tensions between Iran and the US government are simmering under the meeting near the week.
President Donald Trump’s administration has long denied armament as a target for Tehran, but said its purpose is to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The nuclear program is structured as a private energy project.
The Trump White House suggests that the goal could further expand into the complete demolition of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. In mid-April, US Special Envoy Steve Witkov issued a statement as part of the final contract that “Iran must halt and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization programme.”
Earlier on Thursday, Iran accused the US of issuing “contradictory actions and provocative statements” of nuclear negotiations before the postponement was announced.
And on Wednesday, the US made a series of aggressive moves as part of its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, raising already unsettling relationships.
First, the US State Department has approved seven entities involved in the trade in Iran’s petroleum products based on its “favours terrorist activities and proxies.” Defence Secretary Pete Hegses then proposed his own remarks, warning that support from Iran by the Yemen-based armed group Housis could lead to US retaliation.
“Message to Iran: We are seeing fatal support for your Houssis. We know exactly what you’re doing,” Heggs wrote on social media on Wednesday.
“You know very well what the US military can do — and you’ve been warned. You pay the outcome at the time and place of our choice.”
Despite intense rhetoric, Iran’s foreign ministry said the postponement on Thursday came “at the request of the Foreign Minister of Oman.” Iranian spokesman Esmail Baghhai also emphasized his country’s commitment to achieving a “fair and lasting agreement” with the United States.
Still, a senior Iranian government official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that recent US actions have been linked to delays.
“The US sanctions against Iran during nuclear talks are not supported by the aspects to resolve the nuclear conflict through diplomacy,” an official told Reuters. “The next consultation date will be announced depending on the US approach.”
Meanwhile, other media reports show that the US was not fully aboard the prospects for new talks in Rome this weekend.
An anonymous source told The Associated Press that the US “never confirmed participation” in the expected talks this weekend, but further negotiations were expected “in the near future.”
Successive US administrations have tried to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Recent efforts culminated in a 2015 contract called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The multilateral agreement, which was falsified during US President Barack Obama’s management, created an Iranian framework to reduce uranium enrichment and receive relief from international sanctions in exchange for submitting it to nuclear facilities inspections.
However, when Trump took over President Obama as President of the United States, he led the US into a move in 2018 to withdraw from the JCPOA, causing the deal to collapse.
Instead, during his first term as president from 2017 to 2021, Trump pursued a campaign of “maximum pressure” on Iran.
When Trump launched a new round of attacks on Houthis in March, he warned that Iran was responsible for the Houthi strike against ships in the Red Sea, suggesting that he would consider using force against the country as a result.
“All shots fired by Houthis are considered from this point onwards as shots fired from Iran’s weapons and leadership, and Iran is responsible, suffering from consequences, and those consequences are miserable!” Trump wrote on March 17th.
Recently, the US president threatened that military action could also be consequent if it fails to reach a nuclear deal.
In an interview with Time Magazine published on April 25th, Trump tackled pressure from US ally Israel, and addressed the pressure for Iran to stand up militarily.
“Iran does not have nuclear weapons so it could have to attack,” Trump said at one point. “In the end I was going to let them do that choice, but I said I prefer more deals than the bombs drop.”
He later added, “If we don’t make a deal, I’ll lead the pack.”
However, the US president emphasized that he is optimistic that talks with Iran will be out. He even expressed his willingness to meet Iranian leadership personally.
“I think we’re going to do business with Iran. I think we’re going to do business with Iran,” he said. “No one else could do that.”
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