A fourth round of Iran-US talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme has been postponed.
Iran said the two countries, along with facilitators Oman, had jointly decided to postpone Saturday’s meeting in Rome for “logistical and technical reasons”. The US said the timing of the talks had not been confirmed in the first place.
It came as US President Donald Trump threatened action against those buying Iranian oil or petrochemicals on Thursday, after Washington introduced fresh sanctions this week on companies it said had links to Tehran.
Trump pulled the US out of a previous nuclear agreement between Iran and five other world powers in 2018, and has long said he would make a “better” deal.
He has previously warned of military action if these new talks, which began in April, do not succeed. Both sides described the first round of talks in Oman’s capital Muscat as “constructive”.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran’s “determination to secure a negotiated solution” had not changed.
He wrote on X: “In fact, we are more determined than ever to achieve a just and balanced deal: guaranteeing an end to sanctions, and creating confidence that Iran’s nuclear program will forever remain peaceful while ensuring that Iranian rights are fully respected.”
However, a US State Department spokesperson said Saturday’s meeting had not been confirmed and that it expected the next round to take place “in the near future”.
Oman’s foreign minister said a new date would be set when agreed by all sides.
The announcement is unlikely to mean that the talks have broken down, with both sides eager to avoid war.
But reports from Tehran have described growing doubt about the usefulness of the talks, pointing to the new sanctions and what Tehran calls contradictory positions from the US delegation.
Part of Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy toward Tehran, the sanctions announced on Wednesday target entities said by the US to be involved in the illicit trade of Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals.
The US State Department said in a statement: “The Iranian regime continues to fuel conflict in the Middle East, advance its nuclear program, and support its terrorist partners and proxies.
“Today, the United States is taking action to stem the flow of revenue that the regime uses to fund these destabilizing activities.”
Posting on his Truth Social account on Thursday, Trump wrote: “Any country or person who buys any amount of oil or petrochemicals from Iran will be subject to, immediately, secondary sanctions.
“They will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form.”
Iran has described the latest sanctions as “further proof of the American decision-makers’ contradictory behaviour and lack of good faith”.
Media reports in Iran also point to a post by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Thursday, which warned that Iran would “pay the consequence” for its support of Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The message was reposted by Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff who has been leading the US delegation.
It read: “Message to Iran: We see your lethal support to the Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing. You will pay the consequence at the time and place of our choosing.”
The Houthis have declared themselves part of an “axis of resistance” of Iran-affiliated groups against Israel, the US and the wider West – along with armed groups such as Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement.
The US has launched several deadly strikes on Houthi targets in recent months in response to the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, which began in November 2023 in response to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Trump has said that he is looking for a solution that would close Iran’s pathways to build a nuclear bomb. But there are those in his administration who are pushing for the complete dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme.
They are also pushing for Iran to stop support for its proxies in the region, including the Houthis.
Iran says its programme is peaceful and that it has a right to enrichment. It is hoping for a deal to limit, but not dismantle, its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
After Russia, Iran has been under the most extensive set of sanctions in history – the sanctions that the US has imposed on the country.
President Massoud Pezeshkian has centred Iran’s economic policies on the promise of the lifting these sanctions.
