Iran International
Hardliners in Tehran are pushing back against the broader optimism surrounding talks with Washington, insisting that the negotiations are going nowhere and merely dragging on to avoid collapse.
“It is unclear what was discussed over the past month. There is no detail on substance or format, nor any indication of whether an agreement is likely,” Vatan Emrooz wrote in its editorial following the fourth round of talks in Oman last weekend.
“The US’s repeated calls to halt enrichment cast doubt on its seriousness … Perhaps the only objective at this point is to ensure the talks do not collapse,” the editorial added.
While the ultra-conservative daily was more subdued than usual, the message was clear: the process, not the outcome, is what matters.
Kayhan, a hardline paper closely aligned with the Supreme Leader’s office, also struck a defiant tone, giving a rare front-page place to foreign minister Abbas Araghchi who said Tehran will not negotiate enrichment.
Muted optimism, missing details
Other outlets—across both reformist and conservative camps—offered a more coordinated and cautiously positive framing, though still with limited substance. Etemad and Jomhouri Eslami both described the talks as successful but provided no insight into what had actually transpired.
The only notable detail was Etemad’s assertion that the latest round of talks were both direct and indirect, clearly contradicting the official line that the negotiations had been strictly indirect.
Two prominent political commentators, Mohammad Sadeq Javadi-Hesar and Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, acknowledged the information vacuum but urged against equating public messaging with actual policy.
"The outcome of the fourth round of talks has isolated warmongers and opponents of Iran," Javadi-Hesar wrote in Etemad on Monday.
Falahtpisheh went one step further, commenting on US politics. “If both sides have decided to continue negotiations, it means that Steve Witkoff’s statement before the talks, about ending enrichment in Iran, was aimed at silencing opposition within the US.”
A Consortium on the Table?
One potentially significant development came via Khorassan, a conservative daily, which reported that Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi had proposed a regional “nuclear consortium” involving Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE—with the United States as a symbolic shareholder.
Khorasan quoted Witkoff as describing the idea as “a surprise that can be considered.” Such an arrangement, the paper asserted, could address regional security concerns about Iran’s nuclear transparency and dilute fears of its technological monopoly.
Most upbeat was the Reform-aligned daily Sharq, which described the talks in Oman as a new life to diplomacy. And most eloquent, perhaps, was the centrist outlet Ham-Mihan, printing “back to square one” on its front page.
Iran will not accept zero enrichment or transfer of its enriched uranium abroad, the daily wrote in its editorial, unless there is a phased agreement and verifiable US sanctions relief.
Speaking at the US-GCC summit in Riyadh, Trump said, “I want to make a deal with Iran. But for that to happen, it must stop sponsoring terror, halt its bloody proxy wars and permanently and verifiably cease its pursuit of nuclear weapons.”
Iran maintains its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Last month, the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said: “Iran is not far from having a nuclear problem. They don’t have it, we know it, but the material for it is already there. To make a few warheads.”
Trump accused his predecessor, President Joe Biden, of emboldening Iran and undermining US allies in the Persian Gulf. “Everyone at this table knows where my loyalties are,” he said. “Those days are over.”
The summit in Riyadh took place during the first leg of Trump’s tour of the Persian Gulf as the US seeks to revitalize ties with regional allies and broker new economic and security partnerships. Trump traveled to Doha on Wednesday.
During the visit in Riyadh, Trump also announced a $600-billion investment agreement with Saudi Arabia, covering sectors from energy and defense to mining and technology.
On Tuesday, Trump, speaking before Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other top Saudi and US officials, delivered a wide-ranging speech criticizing Iran while expressing willingness to strike a new nuclear deal.
Framing Tehran as the main obstacle to regional peace, Trump said, “The biggest and most destructive of these forces is the regime in Iran,” blaming it for destabilizing Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, and Yemen.
He contrasted Iran’s decline with the Persian Gulf’s growth, noting that while “you have been constructing the world’s tallest skyscrapers,” Iran’s infrastructure is “collapsing into rubble.”
“If Iran’s leadership rejects this olive branch,” he warned, the US would impose massive maximum pressure to stop it from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Iranian officials swiftly pushed back. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday, dismissed Trump’s remarks as provocative and misleading.
“Trump tries to portray Iran as the source of insecurity. But who killed 60,000 people in Gaza? Are we the ones spreading chaos?” Araghchi asked, in comments aired by state television, referring to US support of Israel in its war on Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza.
He rejected Trump’s threat of renewed pressure, saying, “The policy of maximum pressure has already failed.”
Araghchi added that Iran remains committed to dialogue and is awaiting further coordination by Oman, which has been mediating backchannel talks between Tehran and Washington.
“It is America that, through its sanctions over the past forty-some years, along with its pressures and its military and non-military threats, has hindered the progress of the Iranian nation; the one responsible for the economic problems is America,” he said.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei also denied that nuclear negotiations were at an impasse.
“The fact that both Iran and the US want the talks to continue means the negotiation process is still ongoing,” he said.
He said details about the next round of talks will be announced by Oman soon.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday evening, “If we stand together, America will be powerless against us.”
In a surprise move during his stay in Riyadh, Trump also announced the lifting of US sanctions on Syria, following a landmark meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa—the first such encounter between leaders of the two nations in over two decades.
“We’re taking them all off. Good luck Syria, show us something very special,” Trump said at a US-Saudi investment forum.
The US leader also touted a recent ceasefire with Yemen’s Houthi rebels, a key Iran ally, and a diplomatic breakthrough in South Asia, where American mediation reportedly helped de-escalate tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.
As the summit convened on Wednesday, Saudi Foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said Riyadh fully supports the US-Iran nuclear talks and hopes for positive results.
"Regarding the nuclear file, there is full support for the ongoing talks between the United States and Iran. We hope that these talks will lead to a positive outcome that ensures the stability of the region."
Oman’s Deputy Prime Minister for International Affairs, Al Sayyid Asaad Tariq Taimur Al Said, also expressed optimism that a nuclear deal with Iran could still be reached.
Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa echoed that sentiment, saying continued dialogue would “bolster stability and improve prosperity across the region.”
Whether Oman’s mediation can bridge the divide remains to be seen.
