The fourth round of nuclear talks between the US and Iran, which was scheduled for this Saturday, has been postponed.
Oman, the mediator of the negotiations, announced the delay was due to “logistical” reasons. “New dates will be announced when mutually agreed,” said Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the negotiations had been “postponed at the request of Oman’s foreign minister.” US officials are claiming that they never officially confirmed they would participate in talks this Saturday and that negotiations could still be held in the “near future.”
An Iranian official speaking to Reuters said a new date will be set “depending on the US approach,” suggesting the US imposing new sanctions on Iran amid negotiations was the reason for the delay.
“US sanctions on Iran during the nuclear talks are not helping the sides to resolve the nuclear dispute through diplomacy,” the Iranian official said.
News of the delay also comes a day after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth threatened Iran over its alleged military support for the Houthis, even though the Yemeni group has its own domestic missile and drone program.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry responded to the threat, saying “provocative statements” hurt diplomacy. “The responsibility for the consequences and destructive effects of the contradictory behavior and provocative statements of American officials regarding Iran will lie with the American side,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei.
President Trump has repeatedly threatened to bomb Iran if a deal isn’t reached, even though his intelligence agencies recently reaffirmed that there’s no evidence Tehran is building a bomb or that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reversed his ban on the development of nuclear weapons.
