News / Politics

Iran’s Araghchi, Trump’s envoy Witkoff to hold ‘indirect’ talks in Oman on Saturday: Report

Tuesday, 08 April 2025 6:19 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 11 April 2025 12:32 PM ]

The combo photo shows Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (R) and the United States regional envoy Steve Witkoff.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the United States regional envoy Steve Witkoff are reportedly to hold “indirect talks” in the Omani capital Muscat on Saturday.

The Islamic Republic of Iran News Network carried the report on Tuesday, saying the two were to partake in the talks that are to be mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi.

The report on the mediated talks comes amid Iran’s repeated assertion that dialogue with the US would yield no positive outcome while Washington retains its “maximum-pressure” policy towards the Islamic Republic, and continues to act in bad faith concerning Tehran.

On Sunday, President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated Iran’s stance of roundly rejecting talks with the US “at any cost.”

Dialogue with the United States while Washington sustained its coercive attitude towards Iran would amount to submission rather than diplomacy, the president noted.

The chief executive also reiterated that the Islamic Republic would never compromise its national interests or principled positions, referring to the country’s opposition to aggression of any type by any party.

Pezeshkian: Iran open to talks but not ‘at any cost’; US yet to demonstrate seriousness on negotiations

President Pezeshkian has once again said Iran is open to talks but this does not mean it will hold negotiations “at any cost.”

Also on Sunday, Araghchi similarly stated unequivocally that direct talks with the United States were “meaningless” as long as Washington refused to abandon its hostile stance.

Iranian officials have, meanwhile, emphasized that the country had no illusions about the current US approach, and had so far seen no signs of genuine political will from the American side to correct its course.

They cite the US policy of ramping up its illegal and unilateral economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic after leaving the historic 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and others in 2018.