Convoy carrying US envoy drives away from site of nuclear talks with Iran in Oman

According to a journalist with an online media agency, AP, on Saturday, April 11, 2025, a convoy believed to be carrying U.S. envoy Steve Witcoff was seen driving away from the venue of the US-Iran nuclear talks.

This, the journalist said was after more than two hours of negotiations.

Associated Press journalists saw the convoy leave the compound in the Omani capital, Muscat, at around 5:50 p.m. local time.

There was no immediate acknowledgment from either the Iranians or the Americans that the talks had ended.

Envoys from Iran and the United States held the first negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.

This was since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

No overall agreement was immediately likely.

But the stakes of the negotiations couldn’t be higher for these two nations closing in on half a century of enmity.

Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program if a deal isn’t reached.

Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.

Talks took place Saturday afternoon in Oman

AP journalists saw a convoy believed to be carrying Witkoff leave the Omani Foreign Ministry on Saturday afternoon and then speed off into the outskirts of Muscat.

The convoy went into a compound and a few minutes later, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei wrote on the social platform X that the “indirect talks” had begun.

Baghaei wrote that these talks would be held at a location planned by the Omani host.

Representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States were to be seated in the halls and sides.

He said they would be conveying their points of view and positions to each other through the Omani Foreign Minister.

About an hour later, Baghaei appeared on Iranian state television and acknowledged the talks had been going on all that time.

“The objective of the Islamic Republic of Iran is very clear, we have only one goal, and that is to safeguard Iran’s national interests,” he said.

“We are giving a genuine and honest opportunity to diplomacy, so that through dialogue, we can move forward on the nuclear issue on one hand, and more importantly for us, the lifting of sanctions.”

Baghaei added:

“Look, this is just a beginning. So it is natural that, at this stage, both sides will present their foundational positions through the Omani mediator.

“Therefore, we do not expect this round of negotiations to be lengthy.”

Araghchi earlier spoke to Iranian journalists.

“If there is sufficient will on both sides, we will decide on a timetable. But it is still too early to talk about that,”

Araghchi said, in an audio clip published by IRNA that it was now clear that the negotiations are indirect, and in their view, only on the nuclear issue.

He said the negotiations will be conducted with the necessary will to reach an agreement that is on an equal footing.

According to him, they will also ensure that the agreement leads to securing the national interests of the Iranian people.

Trump and Witkoff both had described the talks as being “direct.”

“I think our position begins with dismantlement of your program.

“That is our position today,” Witkoff told The Wall Street Journal before his trip.

“That doesn’t mean, by the way, that at the margin we’re not going to find other ways to find compromise between the two countries.”

He added: “Where our red line will be, there can’t be weaponization of your nuclear capability,”

For Diaspora Digital Media Updates click on Whatsapp, or Telegram. For eyewitness accounts/ reports/ articles, write to: citizenreports@diasporadigitalmedia.com. Follow us on X (Fomerly Twitter) or Facebook