U.S. President Donald Trump complained Monday about the pace of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran as the two countries start a new round of pivotal negotiations.
“I think they’re tapping us along,” he said in the Oval Office during a meeting with El Salvador’s president.
The next meeting is expected to take place on Saturday in Rome, according to a source in the Italian government who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
While Iran did not specifically acknowledge the plans, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the talks would happen in Rome while speaking to his Iraqi counterpart on Monday, according to the state-run Iraqi News Agency.
Speaking of Iran, Trump said “I want them to be a rich, great nation.” However, he said “these are radicalized people, and they cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
The first round of talks over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program took place over the weekend in Oman. Despite the change in venue for the second round, it’s likely that Oman would continue to mediate the negotiations.
“We received the request from the interested parties, from Oman, which plays the role of mediator and we gave a positive response,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters during a trip to Osaka, Japan. “We are ready to welcome, as always, meetings that can bring positive results, in this case on the nuclear issue.”
Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog separately confirmed he would be taking a trip to Iran later in the week, possibly to discuss ways to improve access for his inspectors to Tehran’s program.
The stakes of the negotiations couldn’t be higher for the two nations closing in on half a century of enmity. Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, speaking at a meeting in Luxembourg, also said the coming talks would be in Rome. U.S. and Iranian officials have not confirmed the change in venue.
“The next round of talks will probably be held somewhere other than Oman,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told journalists on Monday in Tehran. “It’s not an important matter.”
IAEA chief to head to Iran ahead of talks
The talks will follow a visit by Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency to Iran later this week.
The IAEA played a key role in verifying Iran’s compliance with its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and has continued to work in the Islamic Republic, even as the country’s theocracy slowly peeled away its access after Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord in 2018.
“Continued engagement and cooperation with the Agency is essential at a time when diplomatic solutions are urgently needed,” Grossi wrote on X.
Grossi will arrive in Iran on Wednesday night and will meet with Araghchi and President Masoud Pezeshkian, the state-run IRNA news agency reported, quoting Kazem Gharibabadi, a deputy foreign minister.
Sanctions relief and enrichment remain top issues
The 2015 nuclear deal saw Iran agree to drastically reduce its stockpile of uranium and only enrich up to 3.67% — enough for its nuclear power plant at Bushehr. Today, Iran enriches up to 60%, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels and has enough stockpile for multiple nuclear bombs, should it choose to build them.
The deal lifted economic sanctions on Iran and unfroze assets around the world. The deal’s collapse refroze those funds and limited Iran’s ability to sell crude oil abroad — though it still sells to China, likely at a sharp discount.
While the U.S. can offer sanctions relief for Iran’s beleaguered economy, it remains unclear just how much Iran will be willing to concede. Judging from negotiations since 2018, Iran will likely ask to keep enriching uranium up to at least 20%. However, neither side has offered any public statements about what it is specifically seeking in the talks.
“There must definitely be guarantees in place regarding the fulfillment of commitments,” Baghaei said Monday. “The issue of guarantees is especially important given the history of broken promises in the past. God willing, the negotiating team will continue its work with all these factors and points in mind.”
He added: “As long as the language of sanctions, pressure, threats, and intimidation continues, direct negotiations will not take place.”
However, Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff did meet and speak face to face after some two hours of indirect talks mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi.
Speaking to journalists on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said he met with Witkoff and that his envoy had “very good meetings on the Middle East.”
“We’ll be making a decision on Iran very quickly,” Trump said, without elaborating.
Associated Press writers David Biller and Giada Zampano in Rome, Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Molly Quell at The Hague, Netherlands, contributed to this report.
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