Mediator says US-Iran deal ´within our reach´, Trump says unhappy

The U.S.-Iran nuclear talks have made "substantial progress" toward a deal which "is within our reach", Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi, a major mediator, said Friday, reported Xinhua.

Hours after U.S. President Donald Trump voiced unhappiness with the way the talks held in Geneva were going, Albusaidi told CBS News that Iran has agreed to "never, ever have ... nuclear material that will create a bomb," calling it a "big achievement."

Iran's existing stockpiles of enriched uranium would be "blended to the lowest level possible" and "converted into fuel, and that fuel will be irreversible," according to Albusaidi.

Iran is willing to grant inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency "full access" to its nuclear sites in order to verify the terms of the deal, said Albusaidi.

"There would be zero accumulation, zero stockpiling, and full verification," he said, a "peace deal is within our reach".

He added that "a little bit more time" is needed to iron out some details, suggesting that a deal could be struck imminently, though the two sides may need three months to implement the terms of any agreement.

Additional technical talks are scheduled for Monday in Vienna, and Albusaidi voiced hope that he can meet again with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Also on Friday, Trump said he's "not happy" since Iranians "are not willing to give us what we have to have" during the talks, demanding Iran stop enriching uranium altogether.

"I say, no enrichment." Trump said at an event in Texas. Iran has long ruled out giving up its uranium enrichment program.

"We'll see what happens. We're talking later," Trump told reporters as he left the White House earlier on Friday, noting he has not made a final decision on potential military operations against Iran.

Tensions between the United States and Iran were soaring amid massive U.S. military buildup in the Middle East and the stalled nuclear talks.