Sources familiar with the talks, speaking to CNN, echoed Trump's optimism, noting that they are close to a general agreement that could be finalized at the next US-Iran meeting, which will likely be in the Middle East.
US President Donald Trump said that he believes his administration is "very close" to reaching a solution to the nuclear deal with Iran and he personally warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call not to disrupt the talks.
Trump warned his close ally last week that any action to disrupt the talks with Iran would be "inappropriate."
Sources familiar with the talks, speaking to CNN, echoed Trump's optimism, noting that they were close to a general agreement that could be finalized at the next U.S.-Iran meeting, likely in the Middle East.
Trump's comments came after Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai expressed a willingness to compromise in an interview with CNN on Monday, saying there were "many, many ways" to reach an agreement on Iran's nuclear program.
Enrichment, the main focus of negotiations
However, the issue of whether Iran will be allowed to enrich uranium or not remains a major sticking point. Trump himself acknowledged that “Iran still [has] to agree to the final stages of a document.”
The fifth round of talks between Tehran and Washington was held in Rome, the Italian capital, on Friday, with Oman mediating, and the enrichment issue was the main issue discussed.
A Trump administration official said after the talks in Rome: "Everyone feels good. We now have a much better understanding of everyone's positions."
This is while the Zionist media outlet "Israel Hayom" referrred to the 5th round of talks and wrote that the United States had not backed down from its demand for Iran to completely stop enriching uranium in the talks.
According to Israel Hayom, the US diplomatic source added that this issue was identified as a fundamental difference in the Rome talks, but other issues were also discussed at the same time. According to the Zionist newspaper, the possibility of reaching a preliminary agreement was raised in the recent talks and the Iranian side would take steps that would indicate Tehran's willingness to "completely abandon nuclear weapons." This is despite Iranian officials having repeatedly stressed that they are not seeking nuclear weapons and that the country’s nuclear program is entirely peaceful in nature.
The US official added that Washington is considering “the possibility of suspending some sanctions against Iran” within the framework of an interim agreement. The fifth round of indirect nuclear talks was held on Friday in a situation where Washington, following the previous round, has demanded the complete dismantling of Iran’s enrichment program. This is despite Iranian officials having firmly emphasized that Tehran will continue enrichment regardless of the outcome of the talks and will not negotiate on this matter.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi also said after the end of the fifth round of talks: “The fifth round of talks was one of the most professional rounds of negotiations. Our positions are completely clear and we stand by them. Now the US side has a better understanding of our positions. The Omani Foreign Minister had some ideas and it was agreed that more expert work would be done on them in the capitals. These solutions could possibly be a solution.
The Foreign Minister added," The two sides are supposed to present their views on these proposals and solutions, and then the next round of negotiations will be prepared and implemented. I hope that in the next round, if these solutions are considered in the capitals, we will be able to go into more details.
Araghchi continued, "The negotiations are much more complicated than it can be to reach a final result in two or three sessions. But the fact that the talks are now on a reasonable path is itself a sign of progress."
According to Araghchi, given the clearer understanding that now exists of the positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the other side, we hope that in the next one or two sessions we can reach solutions that will pave the way for progress in the negotiations. Although we have not yet reached the final agreement stage, the atmosphere prevailing in today's negotiations, especially considering the proposals presented by Oman to remove obstacles, has strengthened the possibility of achieving progress.
Iranian officials have repeatedly stressed that they will not accept zero enrichment in a new nuclear deal, which Iran is a signatory to under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The US president appeared to indicate in his remarks on Wednesday that the current talks included discussions about increasing inspections inside Iran and halting at least part of its nuclear program.
Trump administration officials, including Steve Witkoff who is leading the talks with Iran have said publicly that the US red line is any enrichment by Iran, but Trump’s comments on Wednesday suggested that he might be open to allowing limited enrichment with inspectors as a way out of the impasse.
According to CNN, US officials have previously floated the idea of Iran importing enriched uranium instead of doing so domestically, an idea Iran has repeatedly rejected.
US could invest in Iran's nuclear program
One source told CNN that the current discussion involves possible US investment in Iran's nuclear energy program and the creation of a consortium, expected to include Middle Eastern countries and the International Energy Agency, that would produce enriched uranium for Iran's reactors.
Iran has said the consortium cannot replace enrichment in Iran, and Tehran insists on its right to maintain enrichment in Iran.
But a White House official said no agreement had been reached on Iran's civilian nuclear program.
Iran’s ballistic missile program is also not part of the current discussion, despite initial insistence by some U.S. administration officials. Given the state of the talks at this stage, sources did not expect the topics to expand. Witkoff also said in early May that non-nuclear issues were “sidebars.”
“We don’t want to derail the nuclear discussion because it’s a critical issue for us,” he told Breitbart at the time.
After the Rome talks, the two sides presented their final proposals to their leaders for consultation, and plan to meet again soon, likely in the Middle East, according to CNN.
The goal is to reach a broad agreement at the next meeting between the two sides that would set out specific benchmarks for implementation but would also lead to further discussions on technical details, White House officials and people familiar with the ongoing talks said.
Obstacles to the negotiations
However, while Trump has spoken of expecting “good news” in the near future, progress in the talks has sometimes been fraught with obstacles, the network added.
In the fourth round of talks, the United States shared a proposal with Iran that outlined some of the key requirements the Trump administration wanted in a deal, but a source familiar with the matter said that at one point, the idea that was being discussed and that negotiators on both sides seemed to support was rejected by Trump himself; and while Trump has assured that a deal is within reach, he also claimed on Wednesday that “the situation can change at any moment, it can change with a phone call.”
The CNN report comes while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on the social network X on Thursday. "The media is still speculating about an imminent agreement between Iran and the United States. I am not sure that we are really at such a point."
Stressing that “the Islamic Republic of Iran is sincerely seeking a diplomatic solution that meets the interests of all parties,” the Iranian Foreign Minister wrote. "but this requires an agreement that lifts all sanctions and fulfills Iran’s nuclear rights, including enrichment."
He stated that “the path to an agreement passes through the negotiating table, not through the media.”
Araqchi concluded by writing. "And, as for the latest fake news against Iranian-American diplomacy: Using Iran’s name as a tool to attack domestic critics in the United States is a worthless act, even for Israel."
In his message, the Iranian Foreign Minister quoted part of the statements made by US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in a congressional hearing, which said that "the US intelligence community has assessed that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons."
