The United States and Iran will hold a new round of nuclear talks in Oman today, just ahead of a visit to the region by President Donald Trump. The outcome of the new round is uncertain amid continuing US-Iranian tensions and Washington’s internal division over the Trump administration’s Iran policy.

 

Trump, who will visit three Arab Gulf monarchies next week, has voiced hope for reaching a deal with Tehran but has not excluded the military option even as he sought to avert an Israeli military strike on Iran’s nuclear programme that could ignite a wider war. The fourth round of negotiations, initially scheduled for May 3 in Rome, had been postponed, with mediator Oman citing ‘logistical reasons’.

 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Oman, which has been mediating, had proposed today as the date, and both sides had accepted. Trump is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from May 13 to 16 on his first major Middle East trip of his second term. In Riyadh, he is expected to meet leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The visit follows three rounds of US-Iran negotiations over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme.