Trump says nuclear talks with Iran ‘going pretty good’

US President Donald Trump said talks concerning Iran’s nuclear programme were “going pretty good”.

More negotiations are scheduled for next week, according to Iranian state television, after Saturday saw the first round of talks between the two countries since the Obama administration.

Iran’s state-run broadcaster revealed that US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi “briefly spoke” together.

Mr Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Saturday while flying to Miami for a UFC event that the talks are “going OK”.

“I can’t tell you because nothing matters until you get it done, so I don’t like talking about it, but it’s going OK. The Iran situation is going pretty good, I think,” he said.

The next round of talks will take place on April 19, according to the Iranian and American statements.

In a statement released on Saturday afternoon, the White House described the discussions in Oman as “very positive and constructive,” while conceding the issues that need to be resolved are “ very complicated”.

“Special Envoy Witkoff’s direct communication today was a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome,” the White House said.

Mr Araghchi described the meeting as constructive to Iranian state TV, with four rounds of messages exchanged during the indirect portion.

“Neither we nor the other side are interested in fruitless negotiations — so-called ‘talks for the sake of talks’, wasting time, or drawn-out, exhausting negotiations,” he said.

“Both sides, including the Americans, have said that their goal is also to reach an agreement in the shortest possible time. However, that will certainly not be an easy task.”

He sought to downplay the encounter as “a brief initial conversation, greetings and polite exchanges” — likely to avoid drawing the anger of hard-liners in Iran.

Badr al-Busaidi, Oman’s foreign minister who shuttled between the two sides, said the countries have a “shared aim of concluding a fair and binding agreement.”

“I would like to thank my two colleagues for this engagement, which took place in a friendly atmosphere conducive to bridging viewpoints and ultimately achieving regional and global peace, security and stability,” Mr al-Busaidi wrote on X. “We will continue to work together and put further efforts to assist in arriving at this goal.”

That the two men spoke face-to-face satisfied a demand of the Americans. Mr Trump and Mr Witkoff both had described the talks as being “direct”.

Mr Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear programme if a deal is not reached.

Iranian officials have increasingly warned they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.