In a news conference on April 7, United States President Donald Trump said there were direct talks between Iran and his administration on the future of Tehran’s nuclear programme.
“We’re having direct talks with Iran,” Trump said. “On Saturday, we have a very big meeting.”
Iran denied the direct talks but admitted talks were set to take place through Omani mediation.
Trump’s announcement came as a surprise to many, as Iran has long refused to hold direct talks. So, has something changed?
Here’s everything we know so far.
What did Trump say?
Interestingly, he has doubled down on the talks being “direct”, saying they have begun and the next meeting would be on Saturday.
“A lot of people say, oh, maybe you’re going through surrogates or you’re not dealing directly, you’re dealing through other countries,” he said.
“No, we’re dealing with them directly. And maybe a deal’s going to be made.
“Doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious,” he said, presumably in reference to attacking the regional giant, something that US ally Israel has done twice in the last 12 months.
In early March, Trump told reporters that he had written to Iranian authorities demanding talks on the country’s nuclear programme and threatening military action if there was no reply.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said at the time that Iran would not negotiate with “bullying governments”.
Trump has until now applied what he calls a policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran, consisting of intensified sanctions.
What did Iran say?
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said indirect talks between himself and US Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff would take place in Oman.
“It is as much an opportunity as it is a test,” Araghchi wrote on X.
Iran has long said it will not hold direct talks with the US, but agreed to work through an Omani intermediary, who was announced by Iranian state media to be Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi.
Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks.
It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America’s court.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) April 7, 2025
Iran’s messaging has oscillated between an openness to negotiate and rejection of the US’s threatening tactics.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said in September that direct talks were possible if the US showed it was amenable to good-faith talks.
“We are not hostile towards the US. They should end their hostility towards us by showing their goodwill in practice,” Pezeshkian said at the time. “We are brothers with the Americans as well.”
However, earlier this week, Araghchi questioned Washington’s sincerity in calling for negotiations, saying on Sunday, “If you want negotiations, then what is the point of threatening?”
What would Trump want to negotiate?
Despite bombing Yemen and allowing Israel to have a free hand in Lebanon and Syria as well as to restart the war on Gaza, Trump says he wants to be seen as a “peacemaker”.
He says he wants to negotiate Iran’s nuclear programme, to make sure that Iran never builds a nuclear weapon.
During his first term in office, Trump actually withdrew the US from a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that curbed Iran’s nuclear programme in return for some sanctions relief.
After withdrawing, Trump reapplied sanctions. He said any agreement with Iran would have to limit its conventional weapons arsenal as well, not just the nuclear programme.
In recent weeks, he has said Iran is materially aiding Yemen’s Houthis, blaming Iran whenever the Houthis launch an attack on Israel or what they say is Israel-linked shipping in the Arabian or Red seas.
It is not clear if that will come up in negotiations.
Trump may also want to discuss Iran’s increased oil sales to China.
What would Iran want to negotiate?
Iran is interested in sanctions relief to ease economic pressure on Tehran as the country suffers an economic crisis that has hit all sectors of society.
This would include assurances that Iran would be able to access the SWIFT money transfer system as well as international investment.
However, Iran also wants recognition of its nuclear programme, including the right to some level of enrichment and to use its centrifuges, built since 2018.
That said, the two sides’ starting positions are further apart than when negotiations first started on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), widely known as the “Iran nuclear deal”.
Iran is asking for more extensive sanctions relief than provided under Obama, while Trump has threatened to bomb Iran if they don’t cut a deal.
Isn’t there already a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme?
Yes, the JCPOA.
As we mentioned above, it exchanged assurances from Iran on limiting its nuclear programme for sanctions relief.
Trump withdrew the US from the agreement in 2018, and his close ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has been one of the loudest voices opposing the JCPOA.
Trump and Netanyahu are in agreement, saying the JCPOA didn’t go far enough for long enough, in reference to the JCPOA only prohibiting certain nuclear activities for 10 to 15 years.
They said Iran’s conventional weapons programme should be included in any deal with Iran, and that any relief the Iranian economy receives would only enable Tehran to fund its regional allies to carry out activities assumed to “threaten Israel’s security”.
How close is Iran to a nuclear weapon?
No one really knows.
Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes and it does not want to develop a nuclear weapon.
Supreme Leader Khamenei issued a religious ruling to that effect in 2003, and that has been the cornerstone of Iran’s nuclear policy since.
Some Western analysts claim that, in terms of capabilities, Iran is incredibly close to a nuclear weapon.
In March 2025, Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, raised concerns over Iran’s enrichment of uranium. Iran has a stockpile of uranium enriched to about 60 percent, the only non-nuclear state to have that.
While Iran has maintained that it does not want a nuclear weapon, Iranian leaders have made it clear that the decision rests solely with them.
In March, Khamenei said: “If we wanted to build nuclear weapons, the US would not be able to stop it.”
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