The United States and Iran made progress in talks over Tehran's nuclear program on Thursday, mediator Oman said, but hours of negotiation ended with no sign of a breakthrough that could avert potential US strikes amid a massive military buildup.

The two sides plan to resume negotiations soon after consultations in their countries' capitals, with technical-level discussions scheduled to take place next week in Vienna, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr ⁠Albusaidi said in a post on X after the day's meetings in Switzerland.

Any substantial move toward an elusive agreement between longtime foes Washington and Tehran could reduce the imminent prospects for US President Donald Trump to carry out a threatened attack on Iran that many fear could escalate into a wider war.

But Tuesday's indirect talks wrapped up without a deal, still leaving the region on edge. The Omani minister's upbeat assessment followed indirect talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Geneva, with one session in the morning and the second in the afternoon.

"We have finished the day after significant progress in the negotiation between the United States and Iran," Badr Albusaidi said.

But with many analysts seeing the latest diplomacy as the last chance before Trump could decide to go to war, Badr Albusaidi provided no details and stopped short of saying the two sides had overcome their biggest stumbling blocks to a deal.

Describing the talks as some of the most serious that Iran has had with the US, Araqchi told Iranian state ⁠television: "We reached agreement on some issues, and there are differences regarding some other issues."

“It was decided that the next round of negotiations will take place ⁠soon, in less than a week," he said.

The Iranians, he added, had clearly expressed their demand for lifting of US sanctions, which Washington has long insisted will only come after deep concessions from Tehran.

There was no immediate comment from the US negotiating team on the outcome of the talks. But Axios quoted a senior US official as saying the Geneva negotiations were “positive.”

The discussions about the ⁠decades-long dispute over Iran's nuclear work come as fears grow of a Middle East conflagration. Trump has repeatedly threatened action if there is no deal, and the US military has amassed its forces in waters near the Islamic Republic. (Reuters)



Edited by Cecil Wong