US President Donald Trump said Washington had “very good talks” with Tehran on Friday, after the two sides began indirect negotiations in Oman’s capital Muscat that could avert a military escalation.

“We… had very good talks on Iran. Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly, as they should,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for the weekend.

“We’re going to meet again early next week,” he added.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also said on Al Jazeera on Saturday that the talks were a “good start” and that the sides had agreed the next round “should be held soon,” but added that no date had been set.

Despite the talks being indirect, “an opportunity arose to shake hands with the American delegation,” said Araghchi, amid reports that he met face-to-face with US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Muscat.

But contrary to the US demand that the talks address Iran’s ballistic missile programs and support for regional terror groups, Araghchi insisted Iran would discuss only nuclear issues.

#WATCH | US President Donald Trump says, "We had very, very good talks today having to do with Russia-Ukraine. Something could be happening. We likewise had very good talks on Iran. Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly… It will be different from last time. We have… pic.twitter.com/4fWD8TfibT

— ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2026

Meanwhile, Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei called Trump a........

© The Times of Israel