TEHRAN, Iran: Iran’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that the fourth round of nuclear talks with the United States has been postponed, after mediator Oman cited “logistical reasons” for the delay.
Iran and the US teams were scheduled to meet for a fourth round of talks on Saturday in Rome, after the two sides reported progress in previous rounds.
“The next round of indirect Iran-US talks, which were scheduled to be held in Rome on Saturday… has been postponed,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a statement.
He added the decision was based on the proposal by Oman of and that “the next possible date will be announced later.”
Earlier, Oman’s top diplomat Badr Albusaidi cited “logistical reasons” for the delay.
“For logistical reasons, we are rescheduling the US-Iran meeting provisionally planned for Saturday, May 3. New dates will be announced when mutually agreed,” he said on X.
On Friday, Iranian diplomats were due to meet with representatives from Germany, Britain, and France in Rome ahead of talks with the US.
It remains unclear whether these talks will be held as scheduled.
The Iran-US talks mediated by Oman, which began on April 12, have been the highest-level contact in years since US President Donald Trump abandoned a nuclear accord with world powers in 2018.
Since returning to office, Trump has revived his “maximum pressure” approach against Tehran.
In March, he wrote to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei proposing talks but warning of potential military action if diplomacy failed.
Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons — an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes.
Iran slams new US sanctions
Meanwhile, Iran condemned as “economic terrorism” a decision by the United States to impose new sanctions in the midst of negotiations for a new nuclear deal.
Washington said Wednesday that it was imposing sanctions on seven firms it accused of selling Iranian oil.
“So long as Iran attempts to generate oil and petrochemical revenues to fund its destabilising activities and support its terrorist activities and proxies, the United States will take steps to hold both Iran and all its partners engaged in sanctions evasion accountable,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
Iran’s foreign ministry said the new sanctions were the latest US attempt “to disrupt friendly and legal relations between developing countries through economic terrorism”.
Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said they provided “clear evidence of the contradictory approach of American decision-makers and their lack of goodwill and seriousness in advancing the path of diplomacy”.
