U.S. and Iran hold 'constructive' talks over Tehran's nuclear program, will meet again next week

U.S. and Iranian officials held a first round of “constructive” talks over Tehran’s rapidly progressing nuclear program on Saturday in Oman, according to the White House.

Steve Witkoff, the U.S. Mideast envoy, spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Muscat at a meeting hosted by Omani Foreign Minister Said Badr, the first time the two nations have held talks since the Obama administration.

“The discussions were very positive and constructive, and the United States deeply thanks the Sultanate of Oman for its support of this initiative,” the White House said in a statement.

In 2018, during his first term in office, President Donald Trump pulled out of an existing 2015 nuclear deal with Iran describing it as “one-sided” at the time.

“These issues are very complicated,” the White House statement said, adding that the meeting was “a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Friday said that the president's "ultimate objective is to ensure that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon."

Leavitt said while the president believes in diplomacy and direct talks in order to achieve that goal, if Iran doesn't "agree to President's Trump's demand, there will be all hell to pay."

Araghchi described the talk as being conducted in an “atmosphere of mutual respect” in a post on X. The two sides have agreed to meet again next Saturday.

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: U.S. and Iran officials hold 'positive nuclear talks