US and Iran resume negotiations in Rome: No ‘conclusive progress’

Iran and the United States concluded a fifth round of talks on the nuclear program in Rome on Friday, "with some but not conclusive progress," the Omani mediation said.

"We hope to clarify the remaining issues in the coming days, to allow us to proceed towards the common goal of reaching a sustainable and [honorable] agreement," Omani Foreign Minister Badr al Busaidi wrote on X.

The United States was again represented at the Iran talks by Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the State Department's director of policy planning, Michael Anton.

According to a report by the AP, after about two and a half hours, a convoy left the embassy compound. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told state-run media that it was Witkoff who was leaving because he needed to catch a flight. Baghaei said the talks had continued without Witkoff in a "healthy and calm atmosphere."

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted early Friday that the absence of uranium enrichment would mean that "we do NOT have an agreement."

According to Araghchi, it is "decision time," as "finding the way to an agreement is not rocket science"