2025 United States–Iran negotiations

2025 United States–Iran negotiations
DateApril 12, 2025 (2025-04-12) – June 13, 2025 (2025-06-13)
Venue(s) Al Alam Palace Muscat, Oman
Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman in Rome, Italy
Participants Special Envoy Steve Witkoff
Director of Policy Planning Michael Anton
Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi
Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi
FollowsUnited States withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action 2025 Iranian protests, Iranian energy crisis, Iranian financial crisis, JCPOA, Red Sea crisis, Iran and state-sponsored terrorism
PrecedesIran–Israel war
Key points

On April 12, 2025, the United States and Iran began a series of negotiations aimed at reaching a nuclear peace agreement, following a letter from President Donald Trump to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The letter set a two-month (60 day) deadline for Iran to reach an agreement. The failed negotiations precede an Israeli attack on Iran, which escalated into a full-scale war between the two countries.

The first round of high level-meetings was held in Oman on April 12, 2025, led by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. At the time, both the Iranian Foreign Minister and the White House said that the discussions held were described as being constructive.The second round of Omani-mediated talks took place in Rome on April 19, 2025, again with indirect discussions between Witkoff and Araghchi. This was followed by a third high-level round in Muscat around a week later, and an expert-level meeting to develop a framework for a possible nuclear agreement, led by Michael Anton for the U.S. and by Majid Takht-Ravanchi for Iran.

The US military has been building up its presence in the Middle East as the threat of war escalates. US bases throughout the region accommodate approximately 50,000 American troops. As part of the peace proposals, Iran offered to build at least 19 additional reactors, suggesting that contracts for these projects could help revive the struggling U.S. nuclear industry. Araghchi's planned speech announcing this, however, was cancelled.

On May 27, Trump claimed both sides were close to finalizing the talks, with strong inspections because "I don't trust anybody". Araghchi stated he was unsure whether a deal was imminent, while Khamenei advisor Shamkhani said Trump's desired control over the Iranian nuclear program was a "fantasy". Israel has reportedly threatened to preemptively attack Iranian nuclear installations with potential forewarning. On May 31, the IAEA reported that Iran had amassed a record amount of military-grade enriched uranium.

On June 11, US embassies in Iraq and other Arab states began to evacuate personnel in response to Iranian threats on American bases. The Houthis threatened retaliation against the United States should an attack be launched on Iran. President Trump was reportedly provided a range of options for an attack on Iran by CENTCOM. The UK issued a threat advisory for ships in the Persian Gulf. The IAEA declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations on June 12. The following day, Israel launched large-scale attacks on Iran, which are ongoing. Following the attacks, Iran pulled out and suspended nuclear talks indefinitely.