Iran Says Despite Shifting U.S. Messages, It Plans to Keep Participating in Nuclear Talkson April 17, 2025 at 5:23 am

But Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran planned to participate “calmly and coolly” in the negotiations. Both sides will meet in Rome on Saturday for a second round, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said. But Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran planned to participate “calmly and coolly” in the negotiations. Both sides will meet in Rome on Saturday for a second round, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said.

Despite mixed messages from the Trump administration over whether it wants Iran to completely dismantle its nuclear program, Iranian officials said on Wednesday that they would keep talking to U.S. officials and focus on what America says in private during negotiations.

The Iranian statements came as the country’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, would hold a second round of talks in Rome on Saturday. The White House did not immediately confirm the venue.

The two officials met last Saturday in Oman for a combination of indirect and direct talks that lasted more than two hours. Afterward, both sides described the meetings as constructive.

Mr. Araghchi told Iranian news media on Wednesday that the shifting messages from Washington in recent days, which moved from limiting Iran’s nuclear program to dismantling it completely, were “not helpful,” but that he would “wait to be informed on their real position during negotiations.”

“We will participate in the negotiations calmly and coolly without being influenced by any faction,” Mr. Araghchi said on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday, according to a video. He added that Iran’s nuclear enrichment for peaceful energy was “real and genuine and we are ready to build trust regarding potential concerns, but the issue of enrichment is nonnegotiable.”

Divisions have emerged within Mr. Trump’s inner circle about what exactly the United States is demanding from Iran in the talks. Mr. Trump has said that he does not want Tehran to weaponize its program and obtain a nuclear bomb. He favored negotiating a deal after months of internal debate over whether to pursue diplomacy or support Israel’s plan to strike Iranian nuclear sites as soon as next month in order to hobble Tehran’s ability to build a bomb, according to administration officials and others briefed on the discussions.