Fourth round of US-Iran nuclear talks postponed amid continued tensions

The foreign minister of Oman has announced that a fourth round of talks with the United States about Iran’s nuclear programme had been postponed.

Minister Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi made the announcement on the social media platform X on Thursday, just days before the talks were expected to begin in Rome.

“For logistical reasons we are rescheduling the US Iran meeting provisionally planned for Saturday May 3rd,” he wrote. “New dates will be announced when mutually agreed.”

Al-Busaidi had previously mediated three rounds of talks between Iran and the US. The first took place in Oman’s capital of Moscat on April 12, with a follow-up in Rome the following weekend. A third round of negotations returned to Moscat on April 26, with the US touting “progress” towards a nuclear deal.

But tensions between the Iranian and US governments have been simmering beneath the near-weekly meetings.

The administration of President Donald Trump has said its aim is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, though Tehran has long denied armament as a goal. It frames its nuclear programme as a civilian energy project.

The Trump White House has hinted its goals may extend further, though, to the total dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme. In mid-April, US special envoy Steve Witkoff released a statement saying that “Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program” as part of a final deal.

Earlier on Thursday, before the postponement was announced, Iran accused the US of issuing “contradictory behaviour and provocative statements” about the nuclear negotiations.

And on Wednesday, the US made a series of aggressive moves as part of its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, heightening the already uneasy relations.