US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that American negotiators had made “real progress” during nuclear talks with Iran over the weekend, and hinted that an announcement could come in the “next two days.”
He was notably more upbeat than the Omani mediator of the talks between the United States and Iran, who said Friday that the two nations made “some but not conclusive” progress in the fifth round of negotiations in Rome.
“We’ve had some very, very good talks with Iran,” Trump told reporters in northern New Jersey after leaving his golf club, where he spent most of the weekend. “And I don’t know if I’ll be telling you anything good or bad over the next two days, but I have a feeling I might be telling you something good.”
He emphasized that “we’ve had some real progress, serious progress” during the talks on Saturday and Sunday.
“Let’s see what happens, but I think we could have some good news on the Iran front,” Trump said.
The Oman-mediated talks, which began in April, are the highest-level contact between the countries since the United States quit a landmark 2015 nuclear accord during Trump’s first term as US president.
Since returning to office, Trump has revived his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran, backing talks but warning of military action if diplomacy fails.
Iran wants a new deal that would ease the sanctions that have battered its economy.
Following the latest round, Iranian Foreign Minister and lead negotiator Abbas Araghchi downplayed the progress, stressing that “the negotiations are too complicated to be resolved in two or three meetings.”
And Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on X that the fifth round concluded “with some but not conclusive progress,” adding that he hoped “the remaining issues” would be clarified in the coming days.
The talks came ahead of a June meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), during which Iran’s nuclear activities will be reviewed.
They also come before the October expiry of the 2015 accord, which aimed to allay US and European Union suspicions that Iran was seeking nuclear weapons capability, an ambition that Tehran has consistently denied.
In return for curbs on its nuclear program, Iran had received relief from international sanctions. But the accord was torpedoed in 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States and reimposed sanctions.
A year later, Iran responded by ramping up its nuclear activities.
It is now enriching uranium to 60 percent — far above the deal’s 3.67 percent cap but below, though close to the 90 percent level needed for a nuclear warhead.
Even as the Trump administration pushed ahead with its attempts to forge a new nuclear deal with Iran, a source confirmed to the Times of Israel on Sunday that the administration had dismissed the top US National Security Council officials for the Middle East, Iran and Israel.
They were among many dozens of officials dismissed from their roles as part of a major overhaul of the White House body, said the source, who was familiar with the matter.
NSC Middle East and North Africa senior director Eric Trager and NSC Israel and Iran director Merav Ceren were among those pushed out on Friday, May 23, as part of a purge aimed at significantly downsizing the NSC staff, the source says, confirming reporting in the Axios news site and Jewish Insider.
The move was expected to elevate the importance of the State Department and Pentagon in advising Trump on important foreign policy moves. But, ultimately, Trump relies on his own instincts above all else when making decisions.
There were roughly 395 people working at the NSC, including about 180 support staff, according to one official. A large chunk of those being ousted are policy or subject-matter experts seconded from other government agencies. They will be given an opportunity to return to their home agencies if they want.
Many of the political appointees will also be given positions elsewhere in the administration, the official said.
The NSC has been in a continual state of tumult during the early going of Trump’s second go-around in the White House.
Trump previously ousted National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, weeks after he fired several NSC officials on the day after the influential far-right activist Laura Loomer raised concerns directly to him about staff loyalty.
Loomer has in the past spread 9/11 conspiracy theories and promoted QAnon, an apocalyptic and convoluted conspiracy theory centered on the belief that Trump is fighting the “deep state,” and she took credit for the ouster of the NSC officials that she argued were disloyal.
Trager and Ceren were both hired by Waltz. They were seen to have held more traditionally Republican, hawkish and pro-Israel views, as opposed to the more isolationist, MAGA wing in the GOP that is more loyal to Trump and has gradually expanded its influence in the administration.