Following the ousting of National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and the appointment of Secretary of State Marco Rubio as interim National Security Advisor, Rubio appeared on Fox News and provided the following remarks staking out far-reaching concessions that the U.S. wants to see in a deal: “If Iran wants a peaceful, civil, nuclear program — meaning they want nuclear power plants like other countries in the world have — there’s a way to do it. And that is, you build the reactors and you import enriched uranium to fuel those reactors. That’s how dozens of countries around the world do it. The only countries in the world that enrich uranium are the ones that have nuclear weapons.* Iran is claiming they don’t want a weapon, but what they’re basically asking is to be the only non-weapon country in the world that’s enriching uranium. And the level at which they enrich is really not relevant per se, because if you have the ability to enrich at 3.67%, it only takes a few weeks to get to 20% and then 60% and then the 80% and 90% that you need for a weapon. And so, that really is the path forward here. Iran simply needs to say, ‘we’ve agreed to no longer enrich, we’re going to have reactors because we want to have nuclear energy and we’re going to import enriched uranium.’ This is an opportunity for them if they take it, and this is the best opportunity they’re going to have. President Trump is a president of peace — he doesn’t want a war, he doesn’t want conflict, none of us do. And there’s a path forward here. But what cannot happen is to live in a world where Iran has a nuclear weapon.” He continued that “…If you really want to prevent a nuclear program and you’re not building a nuclear weapon, then you (Iran) should open all your nuclear facilities. One of the failures of the Obama nuclear deal with Iran is that you could not inspect military sites — well, if you’re making nuclear weapons you would probably make them on a military site. And by the way it’s been known and discovered that in the past that Iran has had a secret nuclear program that it did not disclose to the world…Iran likes to say they’re not interested in nuclear programs they like to say all they want is peaceful nuclear energy, then they should not be afraid of inspections by inspectors of any kind, including Americans. And there’s a win here for Iran. They can actually have real economic development, can have real investment in their country. But they have to walk away from sponsoring terrorists, they have to walk away from helping the Houthis, they have to walk away from building long-range missiles that have no purpose to exist other than having nuclear weapons, and they have to walk away from enrichment. These are not unreasonable requests, there are countries all over the world that have nuclear energy and don’t enrich and don’t have long-range missiles and don’t sponsor terrorism. That path is there for them, it’s the path of peace. And frankly, I pray and hope that we do everything we can to convince them that they should take it up.” * Editor’s note: this is not factual. Other non-nuclear weapons states, including The Netherlands, Brazil and Japan, retain domestic enrichment capabilities without possessing or pursuing nuclear weapons. 

According to a report from NBC News, Iran accused the United States of “contradictory behavior and provocative statements” after Secretary Hegseth warned Tehran of consequences for backing the Houthis and imposed new oil-related sanctions on the group in the midst of nuclear talks.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei criticized “the contradictory approach of American decision-makers and their lack of goodwill and seriousness in advancing the path of diplomacy,” according to state media. He continued that, “The responsibility for the consequences and destructive effects of the contradictory behavior and provocative statements of American officials regarding Iran will lie with the American side.”

Foreign Minister Araghchi posted the following statement to X/Twitter: “Israel’s fantasy that it can dictate what Iran may or may not do is so detached from reality that it hardly merits a response.  What is striking, however, is how brazenly Netanyahu is now dictating what President Trump can and cannot do in his diplomacy with Iran.  Conveniently, Netanyahu’s Allies in the Failed Biden Team—who failed to reach a deal with Iran—are FALSELY casting our indirect negotiations with the Trump administration as another JCPOA. Let me be clear: Iran is strong and confident enough in its capabilities to thwart any attempt by malicious external actors to sabotage its foreign policy or dictate its course. We can only hope our U.S. counterparts are equally steadfast. Many Iranians no longer believe the JCPOA is sufficient. They seek tangible dividends. Nothing Netanyahu’s Allies in the Failed Biden Team say or do will change this reality. There is no military option, and certainly no military solution. Any strike will be immediately reciprocated.”

The U.S. and Iran held a third round of talks, led by Foreign Minister Araghchi and Special Envoy Witkoff, in Muscat, Oman. The two parties brought in technical teams for the first time during this meeting, and have since agreed to meet again on May 3, 2025 to continue negotiating. One senior U.S. official stated that the talks, mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi, lasted over four hours and included both indirect and direct engagement between both sides. Following the meeting, Araghchi stated that “This round of talks was much more serious than in the past, and we gradually moved into more detailed and technical discussions.” He added that “Some differences are serious, some less so. I’m hopeful about reaching a deal, but yet cautious.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated in an interview with The Free Press, that war with Iran would be “more messy” and “more complex” than most American military engagements in recent years. He continued that “Any military action at this point in the Middle East, whether it’s against Iran by us or anybody else, could in fact trigger a much broader conflict.” Sec. Rubio also suggested Iran has no need for domestic enrichment of uranium, stating “If Iran wants a civil nuclear program, they can have one, just like many other countries in the world have one, and that is they import enriched material. Now, we’re not going to negotiate this in the press, we’re not going to negotiate this publicly because that undermines negotiations. But there’s a pathway to a civil peaceful nuclear program if they want one. But if they insist on enriching, then they will be the only country in the world that doesn’t have a weapons program quote unquote, but is enriching. And so I think that’s problematic. But, again, let’s give peace every chance here to succeed. I don’t want to see a war, the President certainly doesn’t want to see one either.” 

Following the second round of talks with the U.S. in Rome, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted the following statement to X: “Relatively positive atmosphere in Rome has enabled progress on principles and objectives of a possible deal. We made clear how many in Iran believe that the JCPOA is no longer good enough for us. To them, what is left from that deal are  “lessons learned”. Personally, I tend to agree. The initiation of expert level track will begin in coming days with a view to hammer out details. After that, we will be in a better position to judge. For now, optimism may be warranted but only with a great deal of caution.”

In response to the New York Times Report that President Trump had reportedly waved off an Israeli strike plan on Iranian nuclear facilities, the President stated that:  “I wouldn’t say waved off. I’m not in a rush to do it, because I think that Iran has a chance to have a great country and to live happily without death, and I’d like to see that. That’s my first option. If there’s a second option, I think it would be very bad for Iran. And I think Iran is wanting to talk. I hope they’re wanting to talk. It’s going to be very good for them if they do. And I’d like to see Iran thrive in the future, do fantastically well…I know the Iranian people, they’re incredible people, always have been very smart, very energetic, very successful people. And I don’t want to do anything that’s going to hurt anybody, I really don’t, but Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon. It’s pretty simple. It’s really simple. We’re not looking to take their industry. We’re not looking to take their land. All we’re saying is you can’t have a nuclear weapon. The deal that was made, the deal that was made with Obama, that deal would have expired already. It was a terrible deal. It would have expired, and that gave them a clear path to a nuclear weapon. I wouldn’t have accepted, that’s why I terminated the deal. Number one, it was way too short. You know, when countries are involved, you don’t make short term deals. These are countries with long lives. I terminated that, and it was a great termination, because it didn’t allow us to do anything. Once it was terminated, you know what the deal was, it was a terrible deal, really one of many terrible deals made by the U.S., but no, I’d like to see Iran thrive, and they can do that, I think, very easily, or they can do it the other way. The other way is not going to be good for them. It’s gonna be really bad for them.”

President Trump held a situation room meeting with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and other top officials to discuss the status of U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations. This meeting came just after Witkoff had made statements that the U.S. position was that Iran would have to stop enriching uranium to the level of 20% and to the near weapons-grade level of 60%, without ruling out that the Iranians would be able to continue enriching uranium to the level of 3.67% that is needed for a civilian nuclear energy program.

Special Envoy Steve Witkoff appeared on Fox News where he specifically underscored an Iranian uranium enrichment cap of 3.67%: “The president’s message of peace through strength, it resonates throughout the world. This is not a threat on my part now, it is just a simple fact. The president means what he says, which is they cannot have a bomb. The conversation with the Iranians will be much about two critical points. One, enrichment – as you mentioned, they do not need to enrich past 3.67%. In some circumstances, they’re at 60% in other circumstances 20% – that cannot be. And you do not need to run, as they claim, a civil nuclear program where you’re enriching past 3.67%. So, this is going to be much about verification on the enrichment program and then ultimately verification on weaponization. That includes missiles, the type of missiles that they have stockpiled there, and it includes the trigger for a bomb. And I think we’re here to have, as the president indicated – and I take my direction from him every day that I go to work –, we’re here to see if we can solve this situation diplomatically and with dialogue. The first meeting was positive, constructive, compelling. …the devil will be in the details of the document. And hopefully, we’ll have that high quality problem of getting the document drafted. But verification will be the key point that underguards this agreement if we’re fortunate enough to get there. And we’re going to have to have very tight verification. There hasn’t been much in the way of verification in the past several years, prior to our administration. That’s got to change, and if it changes, then we’ll have the basis for positive talks. And if it doesn’t change, then we’ll have to seek alternatives – which would not be good for anybody.”

The White House released the following statement after talks between the U.S. and Iran in Oman concluded on Saturday, “U.S. Special Presidential Envoy Steven Witkoff, accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Oman Ana Escrogima, conducted talks today in Muscat with Iranian Foreign Minister Dr. Abbas Araghchi, which were hosted by Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi. The discussions were very positive and constructive, and the United States deeply thanks the Sultanate of Oman for its support of this initiative. Special Envoy Witkoff underscored to Dr. Araghchi that he had instructions from President Trump to resolve our two nations’ differences through dialogue and diplomacy, if that is possible. These issues are very complicated, and Special Envoy Witkoff’s direct communication today was a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome. The sides agreed to meet again next Saturday.”