ROME — Iran and the United States made “some but not conclusive progress” Friday in a fifth round of negotiations in Rome over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, the talks’ Omani mediator said.
The remarks by Badr al-Busaidi suggested the negotiations between the two longtime enemies would continue even as the talks run up against their toughest challenge: Trying to find middle ground between American demands that Iran stop enriching uranium while Tehran insists its program must continue.
“The fifth round of Iran US talks have concluded today in Rome with some but not conclusive progress,” al-Busaidi wrote on X. “We hope to clarify the remaining issues in the coming days, to allow us to proceed towards the common goal of reaching a sustainable and honourable agreement.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi after the talks told Iranian state television that al-Busaidi presented ideas that will be conveyed to the two nations’ capitals “without creating any commitments for either side.”
“These negotiations are too complex to be resolved in just two or three meetings,” he said. “I am hopeful that in the next one or two rounds — especially given the better understanding of the Islamic Republic’s positions — we can reach solutions that allow the talks to progress.”
He added: “We are not there yet, but we are not discouraged either.”
The U.S. was again represented in the talks by Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Michael Anton, the State Department’s policy planning director, at the negotiations in the Omani Embassy in Rome’s Camilluccia neighborhood.
A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks, said the direct and indirect negotiations “continue to be constructive.”
“The talks continue to be constructive — we made further progress, but there is still work to be done,” the official said.
Enrichment remains key in negotiations
The talks seek to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the U.S. has imposed on the Islamic Republic, closing in on half a century of enmity.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
“Iran almost certainly is not producing nuclear weapons, but Iran has undertaken activities in recent years that better position it to produce them, if it chooses to do so,” a new report from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency said. “These actions reduce the time required to produce sufficient weapons-grade uranium for a first nuclear device to probably less than one week.”
However, it likely still would take Iran months to make a working bomb, experts say.
Enrichment remains the key point of contention. Witkoff at one point suggested Iran could enrich uranium at 3.67%, then later began saying all Iranian enrichment must stop. That position on the American side has hardened over time.
