• President Trump with confidence that a new Iran -nuclear deal is possible.
• Tehran, Washington holds the third round of conversations in Muscat.
• Omani FM says the negotiations would continue next week.

Muscat: Iran and the United States agree to continue nuclear conversations next week, both parties said on Saturday, although Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi expressed “extremely careful” about success with the negotiations to solve a decades long standoff.

US President Donald Trump has signaled the confidence in squeezing a new covenant with the Islamic Republic that would block Tehran’s path to an atomic bomb.

Araqchi and Trump’s Middle East -Release Steve Witkoff held a third round of the Muscat negotiations through Omani brokers for about six hours, a week after another round in Rome, which both sides described as constructive.

“The negotiations are extremely serious and technical … There are still differences, both on bigger questions and about details,” Araqchi told Iranian State TV.

“There is seriousness and determination on both sides … however, our optimism about success with the negotiations remains extremely careful.”

A senior US administrative official described the negotiations and positive and productive, adding that both sides agreed to meet again in Europe “soon”. “There is still a lot to do, but further progress was made to come to an agreement,” the official added.

Previously, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi had said that negotiations would continue next week, with another “high level meeting” so far scheduled for May 3rd. Araqchi said Oman would advertise the room.

Prior to the main retailer meeting, indirect conversations at the expert level took place in Muscat to design a framework for a potential nuclear deal.

“The presence of experts was beneficial … We return to our capitals for further reviews to see how disagreements can be reduced,” said Araqchi.

An Iranian official who was informed about the negotiations told Reuters earlier that the expert -level negotiations were “difficult, complicated and serious.”

The only goal of these conversations, Araqchi said was “to build confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions”.

Trump, in an interview with Time Magazine, published on Friday, said “I think we will enter into an agreement with Iran,” but he repeated a threat of military action against Iran whose diplomacy fails.

Shortly after Araqchi and Witkoff began their latest indirect conversations on Saturday, Iranian state media reported a massive explosion in the country’s Shahid Rajaee port near the southern city of Bandar Abbas, which killed at least four people and injured hundreds.

Maximum pressure

While both Tehran and Washington have said they are ready to pursue diplomacy, they remain far apart on a dispute that has been rumbling for more than two decades.

Trump, who has recovered a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran since February, a nuclear covenant in 2015 between Iran and six world powers in 2018 during his first period and reintroduced paralyzing sanctions against Iran.

Since 2019, Iran has violated PACT’s nuclear curb, including “dramatic”, which accelerates its enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the approx. 90% level, which is a weapon class, according to the UN Nuclear Guard Dog.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran should stop enriching uranium this week during an appointment and import any enriched uranium, it was necessary to burn its only functioning nuclear energy plant, Bushehr.

Tehran is willing to negotiate some curbs on his nuclear work in return for the termination of sanctions, according to Iranian officials, but to end his enrichment program or surrender its enriched uranium warehouse is among “Iran’s red lines that could not be compromised” in the conversations.

In addition, European states have proposed to us dealers that a comprehensive agreement should include boundaries that prevent Iran from acquiring or completing the capacity to put a nuclear vessel head on a ballistic missile, several European diplomats said.

Tehran insists on his defense functions, just as its missile program, e is not marketable.

An Iranian official with knowledge of the negotiations said Friday that Tehran sees his missile program as a major obstacle in negotiations.