Experts to discuss details of nuclear deal after US and Iranian diplomats meet

US delegates leave the Omani Embassy in Rome after a closed-door meeting with an their Iranian counterparts (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Iran and the United States will begin having experts meet to discuss details of a possible deal over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme, a top Iranian diplomat said on Saturday after a second round of negotiations in Rome.

The comments by Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who met with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff for several hours, suggest movement in the talks.

The experts will meet in Oman before Mr Araghchi and Mr Witkoff meet again in Oman on April 26, Mr Araghchi said.

There was no immediate readout from the US side after the meeting at the Omani Embassy in Rome’s Camilluccia neighbourhood.

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (Ludovic Marin, Pool Photo via AP)

However, President Donald Trump has been pushing for a rapid deal with Iran while threatening military action against it.

“The talks were held in a constructive environment and I can say that is moving forward,” Mr Araghchi told Iranian state television.

“I hope that we will be in a better position after the technical talks.”

He added: “This time, we succeeded to reach a better understanding about a sort of principles and aims.”

Police and reporters stand outside the Omani Embassy in Rome during a closed-door meeting between US and Iranian diplomats (Andrew Medichini/AP)

Iranian officials described the talks as indirect, like those last weekend in Muscat, Oman, with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi shuttling between them in different rooms.

That talks are even happening represents a historic moment, given the decades of enmity between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the US Embassy hostage crisis.

Mr Trump, in his first term, unilaterally withdrew from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018, setting off years of attacks and negotiations that failed to restore the accord that drastically limited Tehran’s enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

At risk is a possible American or Israeli military strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, or the Iranians following through on their threats to pursue an atomic weapon.

Meanwhile, tensions in the Middle East have spiked over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and after US airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels killed more than 70 people and wounded dozens more.

“I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon,” Mr Trump said Friday. “I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”