Middle East Eye:

For the last three Saturdays in a row, negotiators from the US and Iran have met in Oman to engage in talks not seen since the Obama administration.

Iran is seeking sanctions relief, while the US is looking to halt Iran's uranium enrichment, given Israel's fear, in particular, that the Islamic Republic is seeking a nuclear weapon.

The scheduled 3 May meeting, however, has now been scrapped.

"Together with Omani and US interlocutors, we have decided to postpone the 4th round of talks for logistical and technical reasons," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X on Thursday.

"On Iran's part, there is no change in our determination to secure a negotiated solution... Iran's nuclear program will forever remain peaceful while ensuring that Iranian rights are fully respected," he added.

Washington, however, disputed the idea that a meeting was ever planned in the first place.

"The United States was never confirmed to participate in a fourth round of talks anywhere," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters on Thursday in response to Araghchi's post.

"The timing and venue there could be one in that it would take place in the near future, but we won't discuss the where or the when," she said.

The tactics and tenor adopted by the US in recent days likely led to this moment.

"I think there are some real troubling indications accompanying the postponement of negotiations. Reports from Iran indicate that it may not just be logistical hurdles, but a shift in the American position that has led to a delay," Ryan Costello, policy director for the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), told Middle East Eye.

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