JERUSALEM — As President prepares to visit the Middle East on Monday, the U.S. and Iran concluded their fourth round of talks in Oman on Sunday regarding Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

The day before the talks, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei welcomed “Death to America” chants in Tehran, telling supporters who called for the U.S.’s destruction that “Your judgment is right.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the nuclear talks were “difficult but useful.” A U.S. official, remaining anonymous, told The Associated Press that the negotiations were both indirect and direct.

An “agreement was reached to move forward with the talks to continue working through technical elements,”. “We are encouraged by today’s outcome and look forward to our next meeting, which will happen in the near future.”

President Trump announced a 60-day deadline to reach an agreement with Iran regarding its nuclear weapons program. The initial U.S.-Iran negotiating session began on April 12.

Iran analyst and journalist Mardo Soghom noted before the talks that Iran’s regime would go to great lengths to preserve its right to enrich uranium, a key component for nuclear weapons. The Trump administration is strongly against Iran having a uranium enrichment program.

“Iran is trying to maintain its enrichment operation at a lower level and resist pressure to halt its anti-Israel stance. Khamenei’s speech [Saturday] emphasized that second point. However, the primary concern is dismantling Iran’s uranium enrichment,” Soghom told Digital.

Khamenei also criticized Israel in his Saturday speech, stating that regarding Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza, “The people of Gaza are not facing Israel alone—they are facing America and Britain.”

Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran, told Digital that “The Iranians, like last round, seem less optimistic than the U.S., describing talks as difficult.”

In 2018, President withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), because the Trump administration believed it failed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

President Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, recently emphasized to Digital before Sunday’s meeting that Iran cannot have an enrichment program.

Witkoff stated, “First of all, we’re never doing a JCPOA deal where sanctions come off and there’s no sunsetting of their obligations. That doesn’t make sense. That was a mismatched procedure in JCPOA. We believe that they cannot have enrichment, they cannot have centrifuges, they cannot have anything that allows them to build a weapon. We believe in all of that. That was not JCPOA. JCPOA had sunset provisions that burned off the obligations and burned off the sanctions relief at inappropriate times. It’s never going to happen in this deal.”

Brodsky said, “Overall, both sides want the process to continue. The Iranians will generally say and do enough to secure another meeting because they have more to lose from the process collapsing than the U.S. The negotiating process is as crucial to the Iranians as the agreement itself, providing insulation from sanctions, which have seen the rial strengthen since talks began, and protection from military action.”

“This is why Iran will want these negotiations to continue for as long as possible. They will try to wear out and exhaust U.S. negotiators into concessions, which the Trump administration should reject. As President Trump said in a different context, Tehran does not have the cards here.”

The contentious issue of uranium enrichment has complicated talks with Iran for decades. The Europeans faced heavy criticism for independently agreeing to allow to enrich uranium during the early stages of atomic talks this century.

Brodsky said, “The original sin of U.S. decision-making on Iran’s nuclear program was when the Obama administration changed the U.S. position from zero enrichment to tolerating enrichment at 3.67%. That laid the groundwork for Iran to retain the capability to continue to use its nuclear program to extort the United States and ultimately build a nuclear weapon.”

The nuclear expert noted, “That should end today, and recent comments from President Trump, Special Envoy Witkoff, and Secretary Rubio hopefully signal that this era is over. House and Senate Republicans were also very clear on this point over the last week. The Iranians say they want a durable deal. But a JCPOA 2.0—tolerating enrichment at 3.67% and no dismantlement of nuclear facilities—would not be one.”

“The Iranians are engaged in all kinds of gimmicks to dress up a variation of the same concessions they offered to . That should be unacceptable to American negotiators.”

Kayhan, the anti-American news outlet that serves as Khamenei’s mouthpiece, published a full-page criticism against Trump, stating, “He is a framework based on narcissism, superiority delusions, and threat-based tactics.”

The talks on Sunday lasted about three hours in Muscat, Oman’s capital. Iran’s regime spokesperson, Baghaei, said that a decision about the next round of talks is being discussed.

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